Hong Kong’s government said Thursday there are no plans to remove a pair of statues depicting World War II Japanese army sex slaves known as “comfort women
HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s government said Thursday there are no plans to remove a pair of statues depicting World War II Japanese army sex slaves known as “comfort women” that were erected in front of the Japanese Consulate in the Chinese territory.
Activist Tsang Kin-shing said the bronze statues were a reminder to Japan of its culpability in forcing females recruited or captured from Japan, the Korean Peninsula and elsewhere to serve in front-line brothels.
Reached by phone Thursday, a government spokesman said Hong Kong’s police have said the statues would not be removed. Tsang, a former member of Hong Kong’s legislative assembly, said he wants them to remain in place for the rest of the year.
Tsang said he understood the Japanese Consulate had asked the Chinese territory’s government to have the statues removed. He said he’ ll continue to press Japan for apologies and compensation.
Many Chinese nationalists say Japan has never fully repented for its brutal invasion of China and accompanying atrocities, including forcing females into sexual slavery.
Similar displays have been erected in South Korea and other countries, but not in China, Tsang said.
