Kishida vows to push rules-based order as Japan's defense chief visits Yasukuni 79 years after WWII
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has vowed to step up his country’s effort to defend a rules-based international order in a solemn ceremony marking the 79th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed to step up his country’s effort to defend a rules-based international order in a peace pledge made Thursday on the 79th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II.
“We will never again repeat the tragedy of war” and will stick to the country’s postwar pacifist resolve, he said at a solemn ceremony at the Budokan hall.
“In the world where tragic battles have persisted, Japan will continue its effort to maintain and strengthen the rules-based, free and open international order” and endeavor to resolve difficult global issues, Kishida said.
Kishida noted the more than 3 million Japanese killed, the destruction and the lives lost from bloody ground battles on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, fire-bombings across Japan, and the atomic attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. He did not mention or apologize for Japanese aggression across Asia or millions of lives lost there.
