By Jin Chengmin
Time does not fade the truth. The more evidence is uncovered, the harder it becomes to erase the traces of aggression.
In December 1949, a military tribunal convened in Khabarovsk, then known as Boli, in the Soviet Union, marking the first public trial in human history dedicated tobiological warfare crimes.
Through irrefutable evidence, the tribunal exposed the crimes against humanity committed by Japan’s Imperial Army Unit 731 in China, setting a benchmark of justice for the establishment of the postwar international order.
Recently, Russia transferred to China a collection of archival documents evidencing Unit 731’s atrocities. These materials center on the Khabarovsk trial records and span the periods before, during, and after the proceedings. They complement the 1950 multilingual publication Materials on the Trial of Former Servicemen of the Japanese Army Charged with Manufacturing and Employing Bacteriological Weapons, collectively providing a comprehensive historical account.
The transferred archives primarily comprise interrogation records of war criminals, witness testimonies, handwritten confessions, and medical forensic reports. These materials corroborate Unit 731 crime archives and physical evidence preserved in China, forming a complete and mutually reinforcing evidentiary chain.
Collectively, these records substantiate the war crimes committed by Unit 731, encompassing human experimentation,biological weapons development, and biological warfare deployment. They conclusively demonstrate that Japan’s biological warfare program constituted not isolated incidents, but state-sponsored crimes executed through an organized, premeditated, and systematic chain of command.
Evidence first disclosed at the Khabarovsk tribunal, including records of so-called “special transfers,” human experimentation, and biological warfare operations, further exposed the extent of Japan’s medical crimes and war responsibility.
As former Unit 731 military doctor Ryuji Kajitsuka testified, commander Shiro Ishii told him that the “secret of secrets” was the research, application, and human experimentation associated with biological warfare.
Former military police squad member Satoru Kurakazu described witnessing frostbite experiments in which the fingers of five Chinese victims turned black and broke off, leaving only exposed bone.
A “special detention prison” preserved within the core Unit 731 site known as the “square building” was the place of suffering cited in tribunal testimony, where innocent civilians from China, the Soviet Union, the Korean Peninsula, and elsewhere were forcibly subjected to frostbite, anthrax, plague, and other experiments before being tortured to death.
These findings are corroborated by archives from Japan, the United States, and other countries. The Roster of the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army preserved by the National Archives of Japan identifies the perpetrators by name, while declassified human experimentation reports from the U.S. Library of Congress and National Archives echo the Khabarovsk testimony with precise data. Together, these sources render the crimes of Unit 731 irrefutable and beyond any attempt at reversal.
Critically, Unit 731’s operations extended far beyond a single unit. During World War II, under the direct command of Unit 731, the Japanese army constructed a so-called “epidemic prevention and water purification” system comprising as many as 69 units, spanning most of China as well as parts of East and Southeast Asia, weaving a vast and sinister network of atrocities.
At present, the growing rightward shift in Japan’s political landscape and the potential resurgence of militarism warrant serious vigilance. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has continued right-wing policies in an attempt to revive militarist tendencies.
Such historical revisionism is profoundly harmful. Legally, it contravenes the foundational principles of key international documents such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, thereby undermining the postwar international order. Emotionally, it gravely wounds the peoples of victimized countries, including China. In terms of regional security, Japan’s expansion of arms exports and its shift towards offensive defense capabilities have rendered it widely perceived as a source of risk to peace and stability.
Facing history squarely and engaging in deep reflection is an international obligation Japan must fulfill as a defeated country in World War II, and it is also a prerequisite for maintaining regional peace and stability. Tokyo Trial, the Nuremberg trials, and the Khabarovsk trial constitute a cornerstone of the postwar world order.
The crimes against humanity committed by Unit 731 were legally established by the Khabarovsk tribunal long ago. Moreover, a first-instance ruling issued by the Tokyo District Court in 2002 recognized that the Japanese Imperial Army violated international law during its war of aggression against China by using biological weapons, resulting in massive Chinese casualties.
These judicial conclusions, together with an overwhelming body of irrefutable evidence, demand that Japan face up to its historical culpability.
Having emerged from profound suffering, the Chinese people understand deeply the preciousness of peace. Today’s China is no longer the impoverished and weak country of the past. It will never allow right-wing forces in Japan to reverse the course of history, nor will it permit the resurgence of militarism.
China stands ready to work with all peace-loving people to safeguard the outcomes of the victory in World War II, uphold the international order, and protect world peace.
(Jin Chengmin is the curator of the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army)
