In Brief: Japan deadlock over war apology

Japan deadlock over war apology

Tokyo - Japan's ruling coalition failed to reach agreement by its self- imposed deadline on a resolution apologising for Japan's participation in the Second World War. The Prime Minister, Tomiichi Murayama, wanted the resolution to be the centrepiece of Japan's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the war's end, but a clash over its wording served to highlight the right-wing view that Japan fought the war to free Asia from Western colonialism.