50 years after the fact, especially considering there is larger more recent unsolved issues, is Nanking used more for politics and special interest than pure historical debate?
Video brought to my attention by:
Bakachauka
Also watch:
Looking at the Nanking "Massacre" Photographic Evidence provided by the Chinese Communist Party
5 comments:
This video presents compelling evidence, but it's overall message makes me uneasy. I believe he said at one point that Japan never invaded China? This kind of statement (and other right wing war statements) have led me to believe that authorities in Japan want to teach that Imperial Japan did nothing wrong. This would be a horrible lie to tell future generations. It is as wrong as Americans being told that America should have attacked Iraq, or that America should have dropped atomic bombs on innocent Japanese civilians in WWII. -
-Sorry for the long post i just feel strongly about history. Also i love your videos man, very interesting stuff!!
Thanks for the comment and the post the longer the better I get bored when no one comments because i cant really tell if people are watching especially now that I changed my blog site hehe.
To be fair, I will add that I heard Professor Higashinakano was tried for libel by a Chinese individual in a Tokyo Court and lost. I do not know the details of the case.
But I will also add that he has become a target from influential well-connected Chinese Groups they also tried to shut down some speech he made but the Japanese Government told the Chinese that Japan is a country with freedom of speech. Which of course angered them.
I personally think that above it all Freedom of Speech is more important than any historical debate, as long as it is not blatantly slanderous. In the case of Professor Higashinakano he does point out some true facts and under-publicized reports.
I definitely agree with you oniazuma. Freedom of Speech is essential to a free, democratic society-this means that even if a speech offends some people it must be permitted. The free world needs historians that actively question history. as Winston Churchill once said, "history is written by the victors," so anything is possible.
Also, i'm probably pretty late on the whole request thing, but i've heard that a Japanese politician is calling for an investigation into 9/11. Do you have any videos or information on that?
If "pure" historical debate is even possible, then certainly it is not only admirable but definitely should be encouraged. However, it is my belief that there is no such thing as debate for the "pure" sake of it; there is politics everywhere you turn, and no matter how you wish is, history IS political.
Though this video does tend to give a right wing impression, especially with the flag in the background, it does help to balance the views on history.
I think it contributes to overcoming victors justice, and allow for a broader source of information that can be considered when thinking about what happened during WWII.
Consider internationally featured TV history documentaries for example. Despite being shown to a multitude of nations, they are predominantly created for a western audience with a significant interest in profit making. Naturally, such content does lean toward what the target market wishes to view, inevitably straying from 'pure journalism'.
I guess it's difficult to attempt revisions of parts of history without being accused of denying the whole.
Also, just to correct but he doesn't say Japan didn't invade China, merely that they were not the only foreign military force present and that it was in comparable number to the other major nations there at that point in time.
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