2010-07-24

China to build museum for Japanese Unit 731

Dark wake-up call for Sino-Japanese ties
Unit 731 - or to give it its Japanese name, the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army - was the headquarters of the Japanese army's chemical and biological warfare program from 1935 to 1945.

Among the unit's activities was human testing; it conducted experiments on over 10,000 live subjects, including vivisection, weaponry, germ and chemical warfare tests, and other biological experiments. After World War II, most of those who worked at Unit 731 were granted an amnesty by the occupying American administration in Tokyo in return for complete access to their methods and data - many even embarked on successful careers in Japan and the United States. Most victims were Chinese, but Russians, Mongolians, Koreans and Western prisoners were also used in experiments.

...As China's national strength and standing increase, how the story of the Pingfang complex plays out will provide evidence of whether Chinese propagandists are willing to move away from the narratives of victimhood and humiliation that they have traditionally deployed in such situations. Historical sites play a significant role in Chinese international relations, not only due to pervasive nationalist sentiment, but also because, as sociologist Jacques de Lisle has remarked in his essay "One World, Different Dreams", "Chinese political discourse remains highly attuned to metaphor and symbol," a statement also valid for other East Asian nations.

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