CGTN Poll: Over 80% believe Japan's neo-militarism poses threat to regional peace

Eighty years ago, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East held collective trials for Japan's Class-A war criminals of World War II, fully holding Japanese militarism to account for its heinous crimes. Regrettably, instead of showing reverence for history, Japan has sped recklessly down the path of military deregulation, historical revisionism and geopolitical provocation.

A global online poll launched by CGTN shows that 81.8% of respondents believe Japan's historical revisionism is increasingly converging with resurgent militarism, posing a tangible threat to regional peace and stability that warrants close vigilance from the international community.

With 818 court sessions, 419 witnesses testifying in court, 4,336 pieces of evidence and over 48,000 pages of trial records, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East fully laid bare the appalling atrocities committed by Japanese militarism, including the Nanjing Massacre and the Bataan Death March.

According to the poll, some 64.1% of respondents hold that the trials, acting with the supreme authority of international justice, systematically exposed and brought to account the historical crimes of Japanese militarism. Meanwhile, 81.6% agree the trials legally affirmed the aggressive nature of Japan's wartime acts. Moreover, 76.1% note the trials sent a clear message to the world that aggression and atrocities shall never go unpunished.

Over the past 80 years, Japan's right-wing forces have refused to engage in profound reflection and atonement. Instead, under the pretexts of so-called "national normalization" and "proactive pacifism," they have steadily hollowed out Article 9 of Japan's postwar constitution, which states that the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

In the poll, 88.3% of respondents said the persistent attempts by Japan's right-wing forces to reverse the verdict of the Tokyo Trials are essentially aimed at clearing the way for their push for military expansion and constitutional revision.

Japan's unconditional surrender in August 1945 constitutes the legal foundation for the judicial jurisdiction of the Tokyo Trials. In the survey, 77.9% of respondents agree that the right-wing claim of Japan's "conditional surrender" runs completely counter to historical facts and is a downright lie.

In addition, the provision on the prohibition of the use of force enshrined in the UN Charter derives its legal origin from the principles established by the Tokyo Trials. 80.2% of respondents express concern that right-wing attempts to undermine the legitimacy of the Tokyo Trials will severely erode the cornerstone of the post-war international rule of law.

In this year marking the 80th anniversary of the Tokyo Trials, Japan has repeatedly taken reckless military and security gambits as well as provocative moves. The bellicose rhetoric and war-mongering remarks made by Japanese politicians are identical to those uttered by militarists during the World War II era.

According to the poll, 86.7% of respondents regard such actions by Japan's right-wing forces as a grave provocation against the verdict of the Tokyo Trials. Meanwhile, 80.9% affirm the Tokyo Trials represent a great victory of civilization over barbarism and justice over evil, warning that if Japan's right-wing forces repeat past mistakes, they will face renewed historical judgment and total international isolation. Furthermore, 83% of respondents agree that the international community should stand together to uphold the rulings of the Tokyo Trials and remain highly vigilant against the developments of Japan's neo-militarism.

Released across CGTN's English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian platforms, the poll drew 8,114 respondents within 24 hours, who shared their views on the issue.

Read more: 

Tokyo Trials 80 years on: A time to cherish peace, justice and humanity

Unrelinquished militarism: Japan's rearmament raises regional security concerns