Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Weeks before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe embarks on his trip to tout Japan-US alliance and address the joint session of the US Congress, he was rapped by a US veteran politician for his right-wing remarks that disregard history and often backfire. Nancy Pelosi, democratic leader of the US House of Representatives, recently pressurized Abe on apologizing for Japan's coercion of women into sexual slavery during WWII, known as "comfort women."

Stating that the US had made clear what it expects from Abe about "comfort women," Pelosi hoped "a statement will be made to free Japanese people from this burden" and "he (Abe) apologizes in some format" when she led a bipartisan delegation to Seoul in early April before they arrived in Japan.

While Washington often expresses its support for Tokyo on multiple issues, the Abe administration can hardly expect its remarks and actions on historical issues, notably "comfort women," to be echoed by its ally. Pelosi was the speaker of the House in 2007 when a "comfort women" resolution was passed to call on the Japanese government to acknowledge what Japan did to these women and to apologize for the brutality.

Compared to Japan's equivocal attitude, the US is clear-cut on the "comfort women" issue, which is seen by both Democrats and Republicans as a violation of human rights and symbol of disrespect for women. As the Japanese government seems to be turning increasingly to the right and moving against sincere repentance over its history, it's not rare to hear criticism from US politicians, over an issue that has always been an obstacle in the US-Japanese alliance.

Just on Tuesday a US State Department representative called Japan's sexual enslavement of women in WWII a "terrible, egregious violation of human rights" and urged Tokyo to deal with it. Apart from politicians, in February, 19 US historians slammed the Abe administration's attempts to get a US publisher to change statements about the "comfort women" in its history textbook.

Pelosi's words also revealed the US concerns about Japan's strained relations with its neighbors including another US ally, South Korea, due to primarily historical issues. Washington finds this a headache when dealing with a frayed Japan-South Korea relationship that considerably weakens their mutual trust and security cooperation with the US rebalancing to Asia.

Japan's recent moves have further aroused strong protest and concern from South Korea and China. On Tuesday the Diplomatic Bluebook issued by Japan's foreign ministry rejected the "comfort women" issue by saying that it had already been settled. It also refuted the Kono Statement that acknowledged the Japanese atrocities. Textbooks recently authorized by Japan's education ministry whitewashed Japanese troops' brutal killings in Nanjing in 1937 and claimed that the disputed islets with South Korea and China are all Japanese territory.

Amid the tensions, Abe played his usual tricks to test the US attitude before leaving for Washington. He referred to the "comfort women" as victims of "human trafficking" in an interview with The Washington Post in late March, which was praised by Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel as a "forward-looking" message.

It's likely that Abe will raise the sexual slavery issue in his US trip and refer to important parts of the Murayama Statement to quell the anger of China and South Korea, despite his reluctance to acknowledge it. But he will put a greater emphasis on Japan's path of proactive pacifism and its contribution to peace.

Despite all this, it has to be noted that US-Japan divergences on historical issues won't carry much weight in Abe's upcoming talks, and most of their efforts will be spent on enhancing defense cooperation to counter China's rise.