2011/09/11

フォーカス台湾 「台湾は日本軍占領地だった」



台湾婦女救援基金会は日本政府が2,000人の台湾人女性を性奴隷制に強制したと主張する。そしてフォーカス台湾は、劉黄阿桃の死亡により、第二次大戦中の日本占領軍による被害を公にした台湾人女性の生存者は10名になったと伝えている。自国が「日本軍による占領地」であったというレトリックは、韓国系の運動家がよく使うが(欧米のメディアでそれに影響されている一例としては、一昨日紹介したボイス・オブ・アメリカの記事が上げられよう)、台湾のメディアもそれに感化されたか。

"Wartime coerced sexual victims"とは、英語にしても変な表現だと思うが、これは「戦時性的強制被害者(問題解決法案)」というヘンテコリンな日本語の英訳である。鄭大均によると、反共陣営を批判するのに「強制」という言葉を多用したのが北朝鮮系のメディアで、この影響があって「進歩的日本人」がこの言葉を好むようになったようである。「強制連行」という言葉が使い辛くなった、という事情もあるのかもしれない。

戦時性的強制被害者問題の解決の促進に関する法律案」といえば、婦女救援基金会は民主党に期待している。 "Now that the DPJ is in power, these groups think it is a good time to start pushing again for the bill(民主党が与党になった今、この法案を改めて推進するのにいい機会だとこれらの団体は考えている)" 。恐らく台湾よりも日本をよく研究している韓国の支援団体はここまで楽観的ではないだろう。

元慰安婦が高齢化したことから、謝罪よりも彼女たちの余生の心の平安へと目標を変更したとも婦女救援基金会は言う。台湾の事情は韓国とはちょっと違うと思われるが、韓国では日陰に生きてきた元慰安婦が一躍国民的アイドルになった。そういった意味で支援団体の活動は元慰安婦に精神上よい効果ももたらしたろうが、同時に彼女たちを反日カードに利用する為に、あえて彼女たちの心をかき乱してきたという側面もあるのではないか(ただし、台湾での支援運動には反日色は薄い)?

台北市は同市の大同区に慰安婦の為の記念館を作ることに口頭で同意したと言う。


Taiwanese comfort women will fight on

Friends and relatives of the first Taiwanese woman to stand up and accuse the Japanese government of forcing some 2,000 of Taiwanese women into sex slavery during World War II attended her funeral Saturday in Kaohsiung.

Liu Huang A-tao, who led eight other former "comfort women" in Taiwan to file a lawsuit against the Japanese government in 1999, died earlier this month at the age of 90, without obtaining the apology she had long sought.

Liu Huang's death leaves only 10 other Taiwanese women who have openly spoken of their suffering at the hands of Japanese occupying forces during World War II.

Kang Shu-hua, executive director of Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation, said her organization will continue its 20-year efforts to help Taiwanese comfort women seek justice and compensation from Japan.

"We will continue working closely with our Japanese counterparts to seek a public apology and compensation from the Japanese government," she said in an interview with CNA.

"For years, we have maintained frequent exchanges with Japanese groups that support our calls," Kang said, adding that these groups are waiting for the right time to again propose a bill on compensation for wartime coerced sexual victims.

The proposal was raised in 2001 for the first time in Japan's legislature by lawmakers from the then-opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Now that the DPJ is in power, these groups think it is a good time to start pushing again for the bill, Kang said.

Asked about the foundation's support of comfort women since the issue was first brought up two decades ago, Kang said it initially focused on helping them seek compensation from the Japanese government through litigation.

However, that did not go smoothly and Liu Huang and other victims lost the lawsuit against the Japanese government in 2002, she said.

"As these women are now in their late 80s, we have shifted our focus to help them find peace at this stage of their lives," she said. "To this end, we have created a support system among the women, their families and other groups."

The foundation also lodged a protest against the Japanese government in August at the Japan Interchange Association in Taipei, as it has been doing each year. This was part of an international campaign launched in conjunction with other countries such as South Korea and the Philippines where women suffered the same fate, Kang said.

In addition, Kang said, the foundation is calling for the establishment of a memorial hall dedicated to Taiwan's comfort women, which will serve as an important reminder of their sad and painful history.

"The Taipei City government has made a verbal promise to set up a memorial hall in a historical building in the Datong District," she said.

Like many other victims, Liu Huang was duped into service in Southeast Asia, being told she would work as a nurse but actually was forced into providing sex services to Japanese soldiers in 1942.

She was injured during a battle three days after she landed in Indonesia. As a result, she had to have a hysterectomy. She kept all these tribulations to herself after she returned to Taiwan in 1945.

But decades later, the Korean comfort women's assertion that "it is not us, but the Japanese government that should feel ashamed" prompted Liu Huang to come forward and make a public accusation of atrocities by Japanese forces.

"I was the treasure of my parents, but I was so hurt by the Japanese government," Liu Huang said at that time.

"As the Japanese army robbed us of our virginity, it's not too much to demand an apology from the government." By Elaine Hou, CNA Staff

Focus Taiwan 2011.9.4