CHINESE CALLS FOR PEACE

"It is totally beyond my understanding how the Japanese could be so cruel," said netizen "fangwei0905" on Sina.com's news portal.

Posting on the same website, "jianguai8guai" defended the publications, saying, "It is not for preaching of hatred, it is history."

In an entry on Sina Weibo, "gksiyuan" said, "The Japanese war criminals' own written confessions unveiled the rock-solid facts of their crimes which can not be overturned. "

The confessions also triggered Chinese netizens' calls for peace.

"Shame on the Japanese war criminals. We should try our best to avoid war and safeguard peace," said Weibo user "qiloudeyudun."

"To all who have committed wartime crimes, including Japan, please face up to history and cherish peace," said "sarah0011."

"The current peace is hard-won and it is also no easy job to defend it, " said a commentary published in the People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, on July 5.

"Letting more people know the crimes Japan has committed, as well as opposing the Japanese right-wing forces that are trying to deny the truth is not only a sign of respect for the history of a Chinese nation that has been awash with blood, but also an effort to guard long-lasting peace," it said.

Su Zhiliang of Shanghai Normal University said gathering, researching and exhibiting this wartime material is not merely "playing the history card."

"It defends WWII achievements and protects the collective memory of the world's anti-fascist endeavor," said Su, who is also a researcher of wartime sexual slavery in China.

Scans of the original handwritten confessions, along with Chinese translations and abstracts in both Chinese and English, are available on the website of the State Archives Administration (SAA).

The SAA has been publishing one Japanese war criminal confession a day since July 3, and plans to publish 45 in total.

The move followed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and right-wing politicians' stubborn denial of war crimes in China.