Japan war criminal's confession recounted

Editor's note: To offer a clearer picture of history, the State Archives Administration released a large number of files on 45 Japanese war criminals who were tried and convicted in China after World War II. The special military tribunal of the Supreme People's Court held public trials, sentencing the criminals to eight-to-20 years prison term. China Daily is publishing abstracts of the criminals' confessions:

Mio Saito

Saito was born in August 1890 and became a major general in the "Manchukuo".

According to his confession, he ordered police to escort 30 Chinese people to an execution ground, but all were shot dead on the way.

In 1939 he instructed subordinates to take more than 90 Chinese people to Harbin and Sunwu in Heilongjiang province.

He admitted that he knew the 30 in Harbin were to be used in tests involving bacteria, and the 60 at Sunwu were to be used in demonstrations of poison gas shells.

He said he carried out 200 searches in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and surrounding villages between 1940 and 1942, detaining 1,000 Chinese. Forty of those held were punished harshly.

He added that he ordered police to open fire on Chinese captives, and 120 people were killed.