Accompanied by their sympathizers, two Taiwanese women forced to serve as "comfort women" during World War II yesterday staged a protest in front of Japan's representative office in Taipei, urging the Japanese government to admit that Japanese troops forced young women into sexual slavery during the war and to apologize.
On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives' Committee on Foreign Affairs passed Resolution 121 urging the Japanese government to "formally acknowledge, apologize and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Force's coercion of young women into sexual slavery."
The resolution was proposed by Japanese-American House Representative Mike Honda.
Women's Rescue Foundation executive director Fran Gau (
"This shows that the [`comfort women'] issue has become a concern in the international community," Gau told reporters in front of Japan's representative office in Taipei.
Prior to the US resolution, it seemed that only countries in Asia cared about the issue, she said.
Former "comfort women" and sympathizers also called on the Taiwanese government to help.
"If even the US stood up and spoke up for us, the government of Taiwan should not remain silent," said Chen Ying (
Gau echoed Chen's appeal.
"We social groups have been working very hard for them [`comfort women'], but we're not strong enough, we really need help from the government," Gau said.
Gau said her group and six former "comfort women" will travel to Japan today to file another lawsuit against the government and discuss synchronized actions with groups from other countries.
Also see story:
Japan shrugs off US resolution on wartime brothels
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS