Two statues representing “comfort women” from China and Korea, Shanghai.

Chinese authorities on Monday criticized Japan for impeding the application for records of comfort women to be listed as UNESCO heritage after Japan threatened to stop paying UNESCO membership dues.

“The joint application for the enlisting of The Voice of Comfort Women into the Memory of World Register submitted by dozens of civil groups from China, the ROK and other countries and regions will help people around the world to fully recognize the cruelty of war, remember the past, cherish peace and jointly safeguard the dignity of mankind,” said Lu Kang, the spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Lu’s harsh comment comes on the heels of Japan’s recent opposition against the application. According to Japanese newspaper Sankei Shinbun, there would be increasing voices among Japanese to stop paying UNESCO membership dues if the application is successful.

The application, which is submitted by a number of non-governmental organizations from countries where comfort women suffered, including China, South Korea, and the Philippines, aims to nominate documentation on these sexually abused women and girls to be included on the Memory of the World Register.

The horrific sexual enslavement of women is an emotional yet controversial issue that has marred ties between Japan and the countries it ravaged during the Second World War. According to China Daily, an estimated 400,000 girls and women were forced into prostitution by the Japanese military. Half of the victims were from China, some 140,000 to 160,000 were from South Korea, and the rest were from Japan and other Asian countries.

“The forcefully recruiting of comfort women is a grave crime committed by the Japanese militarism during the Second World War. The iron-clad evidence can never be denied,” said Lu.

This is not the first time that Japan has threatened to stop paying its UNESCO membership dues in an effort to defend its harsh stance on the historical issue. In 2016, the Japanese government withheld about 3.85 billion yen in funding to the organization until the end of the year, as China had successfully requested the registration of Nanjing Massacre records to the Memory of the World in 2015, according to The Hankyoreh.