Newly declassified archives add evidence to Japan's wartime crimes against China

Zhou Zhenfan, an official responsible for archives management at the China Central Archives, said, "These archives provide comprehensive details on the Japanese army's biological war crimes, including pre-trial investigation documents, medical assessments, witness testimonies, indictments, verdicts, and post-trial correspondence between the Soviet Union and other countries."

"They complement and corroborate China's existing archives on the crimes of Unit 731, forming a complete chain of evidence that once again confirms Japan's biological warfare as an organized, premeditated, and systematic state crime," he added.

"The horrific Nanjing Massacre, the appalling human experiments conducted by Unit 731 and numerous other crimes and atrocities committed by the Japanese army against the Chinese people and people in other countries are beyond description," Zhao Cong, director of the Department of International Exchange and Cooperation of National Archives Administration of China, said.

As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War, preventing the resurgence of Japanese militarism is a shared commitment of the international community, Zhao said.

"The release of these archives once again provides indisputable evidence of the crimes committed by the Japanese army, and they hold significant value in restoring historical truth and promoting a correct understanding of World War II history," she added.