Editor's note: Meng Dong is an observer of international affairs. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Brunei Darussalam, known far and wide as the "Abode of Peace," was plunged into the abyss of suffering amid the flames of World War Two (WWII). The iron hooves of the Japanese army shattered the peace of this land, their aggressive acts descending upon it like a locust plague. They not only plundered Brunei's grain and wealth, inflicting a heavy blow on its economy and ravaging the lives of its people, but also ruthlessly devoured the country's precious cultural memories.

Brutal and bloody "divide and rule"

On December 16, 1941, some 10,000 Japanese troops attacked the Belait District and completely occupied the country in a mere week. From the very outset of the occupation, the Japanese army revealed its brutal nature, implementing a sinister "divide and rule" strategy against different ethnic groups. They detained British resident officials and other Europeans in concentration camps, retained the positions of some Malay officials in the former colonial government to maintain a superficial rule and sow division among people of different ethnicities, and unleashed bloody repression on ethnic Chinese and indigenous peoples.

Enraged by the fact that Brunei's Chinese community had actively raised funds to support Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese army publicly executed thousands of Chinese and seized a great deal of their property. In addition, the Japanese military police deployed informants extensively and built a sophisticated spy network, relying on torture to sustain colonial rule. Anyone reported, even without a shred of evidence, would be arrested and subjected to severe torture.

As the war turned against Japan, many Malays were falsely accused by the Japanese army of being "British agents" and met their tragic end at the execution ground. The atrocities committed by the Japanese military and police became infamous, and the deep harm they inflicted and the shadow they cast lingered so heavily that Bruneians still shuddered at the mention of that period in the 1970s.

Economic plunder and cultural colonialism

Japan's invasion of Brunei was not a simple military occupation, but a systemic plunder aimed at completely controlling and seizing resources to sustain its war of aggression. The dual tactics of economic plunder and cultural colonialism inflicted inestimable and lasting damage on Brunei.

In the economic sphere, the Japanese army plundered Brunei's energy resources with reckless abandon and monopolized almost all local oil and gas production. Brunei Port was transformed into a fuel supply station for the Japanese navy and a gathering place for the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and reduced to a Japanese "logistics base."

Seria, the core of Brunei's oil and gas industry at that time, saw its oil royalty account for 47% of Brunei's fiscal revenue before the Japanese invasion, while Brunei was the third-largest oil-producing country among British colonies then. After the start of Japanese occupation, strict military control was imposed in Seria, and a destructive mining policy was implemented. Sixteen new oil wells were drilled blindly in a reckless "draining the pond to catch all the fish" approach, with no regard for the rational utilization of resources and the maintenance of facilities which led to sharp decline in oil production.

Even more heinous was that on the eve of their defeat, the Japanese army implemented a scorched-earth policy in Brunei, severely damaging all oilfield facilities. Seria was completely devastated, and it took nearly half a year after the war to initially resume production.

As resources were being plundered, Brunei's economic order collapsed entirely. Foreign trade was almost completely cut off, and basic daily necessities were in extreme shortage. The Japanese army forced farmers to hand over about half of their harvest for military supplies, directly triggering a severe famine.

Rice supplies were once cut off entirely, and the Bruneian people, who had relied on rice as their staple food for generations, were forced to barely sustain themselves by gathering wild fruits and vegetables. Cloth was in such short supply that local residents had no choice but to make clothes from tree bark, and wrap themselves in gunny sacks and mosquito nets to cover their bodies.

To further control the economy and extort the people's wealth, the Japanese authorities issued military scrip recklessly, leading to runaway hyperinflation and a rampant black market. The monthly salary of an ordinary worker was a mere 50 U.S. cents, barely enough to make ends meet. In the final stage of the war, prices in Brunei doubled every few days, military scrip became worthless paper, and the property of countless residents vanished in an instant.

In the cultural sphere, Japan's colonial assimilation policy was even more insidious and vicious. It sought to completely erase traces of Brunei's culture, reshape its national values and achieve long-term colonial rule.

The Japanese authorities instructed the media to publish Malay-language newspapers that vigorously promoted Japanese values, the cult of the emperor and the theory of racial superiority across society. Various posters were plastered all over Brunei, and slogans such as "Japan, the Light of Asia" and "the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" were forced upon the people. Japanese was designated as the official language, and Malay officials were compelled to study Japanese after work, and ordered to "think, feel and act like the Japanese."

Religious schools and Chinese schools were closed, and the remaining Malay schools had their curricula tampered with, forced to teaching Japanese language and culture to fully implement the "Japanization" education: Portraits of the Japanese emperor and empress were hung in classrooms; students were required to wear uniforms with cherry blossom patterns, bow to the Japanese national flag and sing the Japanese national anthem every day, and even pay remote homage to the Japanese Imperial Palace at noon.

The harsher the oppression, the fiercer the resistance. The brutal tyranny, atrocities and colonial plunder of the Japanese army aroused the resistance of the Bruneian people. Some retreated into the jungles to launch guerrilla warfare, striking the Japanese army whenever the opportunity arose; some plotted in secret to capsize Japanese ships and sabotage their supply lines; many more actively cooperated with the Allied forces, defending their homeland with courage and blood.

Remember history and guard against its repeat

History cannot be tampered with, and memories cannot be erased. Despite the elaborate efforts of Japanese militarists to erase the painful memories of the Bruneian people through massacres, repression and cultural assimilation, this dark period of Japanese occupation has long been deeply engraved in Brunei's national memory.

In 2014, the University of Brunei hosted a multimedia exhibition "Stories through Memories," which recreated that tragic era of broken lands and destitute people through the oral histories of dozens of WWII survivors, combined with precious images and artefacts, urging the younger generation to remember history and cherish peace.

This painful history of the Bruneian nation is supported by irrefutable evidence and will never tolerate distortion and whitewashing by Japanese right-wing forces. To remember history is not to perpetuate hatred, but to prevent the recurrence of tragedy. To defend the truth is not to exacerbate conflict, but to safeguard the hard-won peace. China, Brunei and other Asian countries will firmly uphold truth and justice, resolutely oppose any acts of distorting or denying aggression, and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the region.

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