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China Finds Fresh Evidence of Germ Warfare by Japanese
Chinese researchers have found new evidence of germ warfare carried out by Japanese troops during their invasion of China between 1937 and 1945.
Since last October, Yang Yulin and his colleagues at the Academy of Social Sciences in Heilongjiang Province, northeast China, have found witnesses, as well as relatives of 32 victims.
Stories by these relatives and witnesses have confirmed findings of the "special transfer" files discovered in 1998 at the Archives of Heilongjiang Province.
The files record the names of 52 victims arrested by Japanese military police and sent to the laboratory of the notorious germ warfare "Unit 731" in Harbin.
The investigation has brought Yang and his colleagues to dozens of villages in three Chinese regions.
Li Houwen, former president of the Chinese Medical Sciences University, told of the arrest of his eighth brother Li Houbin.
Li's father was tortured by the Japanese military police when he went to the prison to see his son. Li himself was turned down several times when he wanted to see his brother, he said.
Of Li Houbin's four children, three died after his arrest. Li Houwen took them to an isolated place and buried them.
Investigations show that between 1938 and 1945, 7,000 to 8,000 people were used as human guinea pigs by "Unit 731", many of these were Chinese soldiers or underground fighters.
Koreans, Russians, Mongolians and Netherlanders were also among the victims.
Documents in China's Central Archives show that Japanese forces practiced germ warfare in 20 Chinese regions, killing more than 200,000 Chinese.
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