Katja Weber

Hardly a day goes by without Japan's wartime past being in the news. Most recently, ousted Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff General Toshio Tamogami caused controversy by justifying Japan's wartime aggression in China and colonial rule of Korea.

Other issues related to Japan's wartime past that make the headlines with great regularity center around territorial disputes, forced labor, ``comfort women," textbook revisions and visits by Japanese prime ministers to the Yakusuni Shrine.

Similar to what happened in Europe, there is still a need for remembrance and reconciliation in East Asia. History clearly matters, and anyone who has spent any time in the region can attest that, to this day, there are a lot of emotions tied to the remaining disputes.

And yet the time has come, not to forget, but to move on. Rather than to make the settling of historical scores a prerequisite for further cooperation, it is in China, Japan, Taiwan, North and South Korea's interests to bring about greater cooperation in areas where they do see common ground (non-traditional security threats, environment, etc.). Instead of being ``stuck" in history, East Asians need to think about lost opportunities and, while trying to sort out historical differences, simultaneously push for greater integration.

Even though there are differences between Europe and Asia ― in terms of culture, religion, values, etc. ― the latter can glean five important lessons from the former when it comes to dealing with the past and bringing about greater cooperation.

First, gain an accurate understanding of yourself and your neighbors. Rather than to take the content of government messages and history textbooks at face value, citizens should scrutinize the information they receive ― particularly if different stories are being told. East Asians need to be aware that there are people in each country with an interest in misrepresenting information to serve their own purposes, and therefore need to be conscious of biases and try to view the world not only through their own but also their neighbors' eyes.

For instance, if Chinese students, exposed to graphic descriptions of Japanese soldiers as rapists and baby killers during the Nanjing massacre, are taught little else about Japan in their history classes, these students will get a very skewed and negative impression of their neighbor. Similarly, if Japanese children happen to attend school in one of the few districts that still insists on using history textbooks that portray the Asia-Pacific War as a ``war of liberation," rather than a ``war of aggression," these pupils will get a very distorted view of history. Jointly written history textbooks by French and German scholars may be a model here.

Secondly, extend the same standards of human rights to your neighbors that you insist on for yourself. Since everyone is the same before the law, East Asians, much like Europeans, need to confront their crimes against humanity and compensate war victims (forced laborers, ``comfort women," survivors of bacteriological experiments) for atrocities committed against them.

Thirdly, be willing to become an activist when your voice is needed. Time and again, vocal minorities with extreme views have sought to derail the reconciliation process (by changing history textbooks which then offered a far less repentant view of wartime activities, denying atrocities, etc.) while the masses idly stood by.

To be sure, there have been dissenting voices throughout the postwar period, just like there are in the Tamogami case now, but contrary to what could be observed in Europe, they have seldom received support from a sizeable segment of the population.

Fourthly, embrace rationality ― think in terms of costs and benefits ― rather than emotions. Do not let requirements of shared values stand in the way of greater cooperation. If some countries are not ready to curtail their autonomy to the degree suggested by others, much as in Europe (in the case of various trade agreements, the Euro, social policy, etc.), allow them to opt out.

Fifth, make a long-term commitment to bring about change. As the European experience has shown, reconciliation and institution building were drawn-out processes that took decades. And Europe had a significant head start with respect to the screening of history textbooks and compensation issues, suggesting that East Asians need to be prepared to press on for some time to come.

Clearly, outstanding historical disputes will have to be dealt with and cannot (nor should they) be swept under the rug. Yet, while trying to sort out remaining differences, it is in the interest of the majority of East Asian people to heed valuable lessons from Europe, seize existing opportunities for greater cooperation, and move on.

The writer is associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and visiting research scholar at the University of Tokyo. He can be reached at katja.weber@inta.gatech.edu