Editor's note: 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War as well as the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration. At such a historical standpoint, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi issued an absurd claim that the Chinese mainland's "use of force on Taiwan" could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, stoking tensions in the Taiwan Strait to court domestic right-wing forces. She not only evades reflection on Japan's numerous crimes during its colonial rule over Taiwan, but also casts history aside and replaces the pursuit of peace with the provocation of conflict. Her shameless political maneuvering and nauseatingly provocative stance are laid bare for all to see. In this context, CGTN launches a series of articles analyzing the deliberate historical amnesia and reckless provocations associated with segments of Japan's right-wing forces, with Takaichi as a prominent figure, in matters of history and regional security – so that history can truly serve as a warning to illuminate the present and caution the future.

Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi openly hinted that Japan could intervene militarily in the Taiwan region – the remarks seen in China as a blatant provocation and a direct challenge to its sovereignty. Such rhetoric, analysts warn, is not an isolated slip but a revealing display of the persistent militarist sentiment in Japan's political sphere. Her remarks have not only heightened tensions between China and Japan, but triggered deep concern across the Asian region, where memories of Japan's wartime aggression remain vivid.

As a former fascist state, Japan waged brutal aggression across Asia during World War Two. Its invasions in China and other Asian countries led to some of the most egregious human rights atrocities of the 20th century – including large-scale massacres, systematic forced labor and the establishment of an organized, state-run system of sexual slavery.

Revisiting these historical atrocities is not about stoking hatred, but about reminding the world of the catastrophic consequences of militarism – and of the responsibility Japan still bears to confront its wartime past honestly.

Mass killings

Historical records show that Japanese forces committed several large-scale massacres during the war, most notably in Nanjing, Singapore and Manila.

The Nanjing Massacre remains one of the most documented atrocities. After capturing the city in December 1937, Japanese troops carried out more than a month of killings, assault, arson and looting. Over 300,000 civilians and disarmed soldiers were killed.

Beyond China, Southeast Asian nations also suffered heavy losses. In Singapore, between February 18 and 25, 1942, Japanese forces launched the "Sook Ching" purge targeting the ethnic Chinese community. Estimates of the death toll vary widely – from 5,000 in Japanese records to as many as 100,000 cited by Singapore's Chinese groups.

In the Philippines, during the 1945 Battle of Manila, Japanese forces carried out widespread destruction as Allied troops advanced. More than 125,000 civilians were killed and much of the city was left in ruins.

Indiscriminate bombing and abuse of prisoners

Japan's military also conducted indiscriminate air raids across China.

After the 1931 "Mukden Incident," Japanese forces bombed civilian areas in Jinzhou, an early example of targeting populated cities. From 1937 onwards, major cities including Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Lanzhou, Xi'an and Kunming were repeatedly bombed. In 1939 alone, more than 2,600 air raids were recorded, resulting in tens of thousands of civilian casualties. The 1941 Chongqing tunnel disaster, caused by Japanese bombing, led to more than 1,200 deaths.

Japan's abuse of prisoners of war (POWs) is also well documented. During the Bataan Death March in 1942, approximately 75,000 American and Filipino POWs were forced by Japanese troops to march 65 miles to prison camps. Over 15,000 POWs died along the way due to injury, exhaustion and the brutality of their captors.

Chemical and biological warfare

Despite international prohibitions, Japan developed specialized units for chemical warfare and used chemical agents repeatedly in China. Archival documents by Japanese military detail at least 56 instances of chemical attacks between 1937 and 1942. For example, in May 1942, Japanese troops released poison gas into underground shelters where civilians were hiding in a village in north China's Hebei Province, killing more than 800 people.

At the same time, the Japanese army also conducted biological warfare and carried out human experimentation. According to Chen Zhiyuan, a history professor at the Hunan University of Arts and Science, Japan's Unit 1855 conducted more than 70 biological attacks in northern China between 1938 and 1944, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and soldiers through disease. 

Unit 731, based in the Pingfang district of Harbin, carried out extensive human experiments, including biological infection, freezing and pressure tests. During the 1949 Khabarovsk war crimes trials, Kiyoshi Kawashima, who served as the director of the bacterial production department under Unit 731, admitted that between 1941 and the end of the war, Unit 731 used between 400 and 600 people each year as victims in its experiments.

Sexual slavery and forced labor

Meanwhile, Japan implemented a large-scale system of military sexual slavery, often referred to as the "comfort women" system. Women across Asia were abducted, deceived or coerced into sexual servitude. Official South Korean records estimate that between 80,000 and 160,000 women from the Korean Peninsula were forced into this system. Research from Shanghai Normal University indicates that more than 200,000 Chinese women were also victimized.

During the war, Japan also forcibly mobilized millions of laborers from China and other Asian countries. Civilians and POWs were sent to mines, railways and military construction sites under harsh conditions. The construction of the Thailand–Myanmar Railway alone resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 Southeast Asian laborers and 10,000 Allied POWs due to abuse, overwork and disease. Official data shows that between 1935 and August 1945, Japan conscripted more than 15 million Chinese laborers and nearly 29 percent died due to severe conditions.

From mass killings to indiscriminate bombings, and from biological warfare to forced labor and sexual slavery, the historical record leaves no doubt about the scale and brutality of Japan's wartime atrocities. Yet even today, Japanese right-wing politicians persist in downplaying or outright denying these crimes.

As China's Foreign Ministry has emphasized, Japan cannot escape the shadow of its past through provocation or rhetorical posturing. Instead, Japan must deeply reflect on its historical responsibilities, sincerely learn from the lessons, and take concrete actions to earn the trust of its Asian neighbors.