Dozens of Chinese Canadians gathered in front of the Japanese Embassy in Ottawa Monday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the victory of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
The protesters, holding banners that read "Japan, Pay Your Debts," and "No to Japan for Security Council," demanded the Japanese government admit its war crimes and make official apologies.
"Not only the Chinese people, but also people from across the world are indignant at the Japanese government's refusal to admit mistakes in starting the Second World War. If it wants to be forgiven, it must first apologize and make due compensations to the victims," said Wang Wenwan, chairperson of the Federation of Chinese Communities in Ottawa.
The Chinese Canadians were joined by a group of Dutch survivors from the Japanese concentration camps in Asia. Eighty-three-year-old John Franken, who lives in Montreal, turns up on the occasion every year.
This year, he was met by the Japanese ambassador together with Francois Velsan, a survivor of the Japanese concentration camp in Indonesia.
"As long as the Japanese government does not make public apologies, I cannot forgive them," Franken said.
He was among 400,000 Dutch who were captured and kept in the camps by the Japanese army in Indonesia in 1941. One-third of the detainees died.
(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2005)
