Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday that China urges Japan to deeply reflect on its history of aggression and genuinely respect the feelings of the Chinese people and other victimized nations.

Mao made the remarks when asked to comment on the recently declassified documents released by the Russian government regarding the Japanese army's Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare unit during World War II, when the Japanese invaders who occupied China committed egregious acts of biological warfare and conducted inhumane live human experiments against the Chinese people, in blatant violation of international law and perpetrating extreme crimes against humanity.

The documents disclosed by Russian authorities once again confirm the irrefutable and undeniable evidence of Japanese militarism's biological warfare, Mao added.

Only by facing history squarely can one gain respect; only by using history as a mirror can one forge a future; and only by remembering the past can one avoid repeating the same mistakes, said the spokesperson.

Noting this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, Mao said China urges Japan to completely break with militarism, take concrete actions to eliminate its pernicious legacy and not repeat the errors of history.

(Cover: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning during a regular press conference. /Chinese Foreign Ministry)