CPCS Hosted Conference in Washington D.C.

The year 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the ending of World War II, and as this year passes, the countries of East Asia are preparing many different activities to commemorate the historic event. Military reviews and official statements by government leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have highlighted the fact that historic issues remain as the major barrier to reconciliation in East Asia seven decades after the guns of WWII went silent. Under this context, on Wednesday March 18, the School of Diplomacy's Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) co-hosted an event at The Wilson Center, Contested Memories and Reconciliation Challenges: Japan and the Asia Pacific on the 70th Anniversary of the End of the Second World War, in Washington, DC.

Along with CPCS, the event was co-sponsored by The Wilson Center's Asia Program and George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR). The event was led by Associate Professor and Center Director Dr. Zheng Wang and his long-term colleague, Dr. Tatsushi Arai of S-CAR. The public session of this event welcomed over 70 attendees including media members and senior diplomats form Chinese and Japanese embassies.

Participants engaged first in a closed-door session in the morning going over the key points each would contribute to the public event, sharing ideas, and engaging in open dialogue. For the public portion of the event the panelists held an open discussion focused around a series of four questions regarding the state of relations and the on-going post-war reconciliation in East Asia, followed by an open question and answer forum with the members of the crowd and media.

Topics of discussion included each nation's most significant challenges and barriers to regional reconciliation, the most important messages and requests each panelist would like Japan to consider on how the question of history should be addressed in Prime Minister Abe's forthcoming speech, what suggestions each panelist has for their own domestic audience about historic memory and reconciliation, and what recommendations each has for the broader regional perspective of international relations in the Asia Pacific. Following the day's event, some news media, such as China Daily and VOA, reported on the discussions.

The timeliness of the event helped bring to light the importance, fragility, and often overlooked aspect of historic issues in the Asia Pacific. The CPCS, Wilson Center, and S-CAR also worked to involve the academic and international communities in continuing the conversation and diversifying the narratives and voices in China, Japan and South Korea to work towards future reconciliation and better direct relations. In furthering these efforts, a forthcoming book publication on the findings of the event is expected this summer.

For more information please contact:
Zheng Wang
(973) 275-2003
[email protected]