Japan May Suspend Contribution to UNESCO
Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga suggested in a press interview on the October 13 morning that Japan might consider suspending contributions to UNESCO, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, on account of the organization's memory of the world register of China's unilateral document on Nanjing.
The document on Nanjing refers to China's allegation of Japan's "ill behaviors" in the city of Nanjing during the Sino-Japanese Incident - one of the controversies long debated since the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals.
In a nutshell, the Nanjing problem centers on two points; whether the Japanese Imperial Army's "atrocities" were a reality or an allegation; and, the actual number of victimized noncombatant Chinese citizens. China has over the years inflated the number of victims from several tens of thousands to one-third of a million in a series of attempts to nail down the "atrocities" as an accomplished fact.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga points out the Japanese government's position is that certain number of noncombatant Chinese citizens could have been victimized in the military actions in Nanjing but that no exact number of victims can be factually determined.
Suga criticized UNESCO's process of screening as being done in secret and the Japanese government is in no way aware what document was brought in by China. Sugar further elaborated that as a means of expediting reformation of the screening system itself Japan might consider suspending its contributions to UNESCO.
"Since the United States suspended its contribution at Palestine's entry into UNESCO, Japan tops in the amount of contribution with 3.1 billion yen or 11% in 2014", added Suga.
Impartiality and fairness must prevail in the function of any international organization, not to mention UNESCO. An obvious question comes to one's mind: why in the name of goodness did UNESCO not consult Japan over the hard facts concerning the controversial document?
