Alliance for Liberalism Retorts Ohmynews Report

A proponent of the “New Right” movement, the Alliance for Liberalism, announced a statement refuting the claims of “Ohmynews,” an Internet news portal, on November 24. Ohmynews compared the alliance to the Japanese extreme right faction.

In the rebuttal, the Alliance for Liberalism stated, “By comparing our historical perspectives to the Japanese extreme right faction, which publishes textbooks with a distorted historical viewpoint, Ohmynews has committed an act of ‘cyber-terrorism,’” and added, “This report goes to prove just how low they can go in their intellectual capacity and moral depravity”.

In a November 24 lead article titled “Alliance for Liberalism and the Japanese Extreme Right, Twins?”, Ohmynews reported that the “Alliance for Liberalism purports that the efforts to reveal the truth behind our embarrassing modern history is paramount to masochism,” and added, “This, in effect, is criticism of the current participatory government’s efforts to discover and resolve the embarrassing truths in our past… (the alliance) is in line with the historical views of the Japanese extreme right.“

Comparing the Alliance for Liberalism to the Japanese extreme right, the article further states, “The Japanese extreme right faction has denied the Nanjing massacre and its exploitation of comfort women for the Japanese soldiers, all the while accusing the Japanese progressives, calling for penance concerning these atrocities, of historical masochism.”

The Alliance for Liberalism responded, “We have labeled the actions of the current administration, obsessed with mangling a proud history of acquiring democracy within a short period of time, as historical masochism,” and added, “We do not deserve being imputed with the image of the Japanese extreme right, merely for employing the same term.”

The Alliance for Liberalism further stated, “Japan’s ‘Historical Society for Liberty,’ which has published textbooks with a distorted historical viewpoint, is in no way related to the brand of liberalism that we are striving for,” and added, “Should Ohmynews disagree with our statement, it should accept our challenge for an open discussion forum.”

Jae-Dong Yu jarrett@donga.com