THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 13, 1994 TAG: 9406130073
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940613 LENGTH: WASHINGTON
An estimated 800 protesters marched outside the guest quarters of visiting Japanese Emperor Akihito, drawing attention to the massacre of 300,000 Chinese by Japanese forces in the eastern Chinese city of Nanking.
{REST} Waving Chinese and American flags, the demonstrators, most of them Asian-American, shouted up at the windows of Blair House, ``Shame on Japan!'' and ``We want truth!''
Protests erupted across Asia last month when then-Japanese Justice Minister Shigeto Nagano called the ``Rape of Nanking'' a ``fabrication.''
Historians say that much of the slaughter was indiscriminate and the rapes of thousands of women and young girls were just some of the atrocities.
But several right-wing Japanese politicians still deny the incident and Japanese history books have glossed over the event, saying the invasion was to liberate China.
Akihito has made strides in discussing his country's wartime history, but analysts say he is working from a carefully drafted script on this trip and will admit nothing without government approval.
Akihito and his wife, Empress Michiko, visited the Freer Gallery of Art on Sunday, but authorities said they were inside Blair House at the time of the demonstration.
Betty Lu of Norfolk, who arrived for the Washington march with two busloads of Chinese and Filipino residents of Hampton Roads, said nothing can mask the true story of the massacre.
``This is nothing political for me. I don't care about politics. I don't follow it,'' Lu said. ``But we just want people to know the truth. . . . If our generation doesn't know it and the Japanese children aren't taught, 20 years from now, no one will ever know.''
Monica Eng of Maryland choked on her tears trying to get the words out. ``I'm angry,'' she said. ``How do we know the Japanese won't do this again if they don't regret what they did? If they don't even admit it, they don't regret it.''
Some told bitter stories of war crimes while others focused on protest strategy, with the march coming as it does while Japan is seeking a seat on the powerful United Nations Security Council.
``This is actually an issue about the future and not just of the past,'' said Yung Lee-Li Jen, a coordinator for United Against Japan for Justice and True History, a national organization formed for the demonstration.
The main objectives of the group are to boost awareness of the massacre, win an apology from Japan and force the nation to compensate victims.
Becoming politically active is a move Asian-Americans must take one step at a time, said Jane Tcheng of Norfolk.
``Chinese don't get very political. We talked about this on the way up here and we think it's because of the Chinese teaching,'' she said. ``We're taught not to make waves and just make the best of things.''
But Norfolk resident Peter Chang is confident that the community will start to make a difference.
``Akihito is a fair-minded person. Much more than his father, Hirohito. He is an intelligent man. He knows we're not speaking rubbish,'' Chang said, scanning the growing line of chanting marchers.
``I think the emperor cannot sleep tonight.''
by CNB