http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Japan_says_it_stands_by_apology_on_WW2_sex_slaves.html?siteSect=143&sid=7595038&cKey=1173253134000Japan says it stands by apology on WW2 sex slaves
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan, under diplomatic fire for appearing to sidestep responsibility for forcing women to act as wartime sex slaves for its soldiers, said on Wednesday that the government stood by a 1993 apology acknowledging coercion.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stirred anger in China, Taiwan and South Korea with remarks last week appearing to question the state's role in forcing the mostly Asian women to act as prostitutes during World War Two, although he also said the earlier apology stood. snip
Despite the government apology, reference to "comfort women" -- Japan's euphemism for wartime sex slaves -- was deleted from many school textbooks in 2005, and some lawmakers in Abe's ruling party say that the 1993 statement should be watered down.
South Korea has expressed outrage over Abe's remarks and on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing urged Japan to confront its past on the topic and accept responsibility while Taiwan called on Japan to apologise and compensate the women.