Photo: Li Hao/GT

A new series of Chinese books on the Japanese invaders' top military secrets and strategic decisions during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) was published on Monday. The 45 book-series contains photocopies of secret Japanese files, including telegrams and meeting minutes.  

Publishing the series of books is intended to develop healthier and friendlier relations between China and Japan, experts said at a press conference held in Beijing on Monday.

Tang Chongnan, the editor-in-chief of the series, introduced the source of these secret files at the press conference.

Tang said that the US army ceased secret files of the Japanese invaders after World War II as evidence of their behavior and brought them back to the US. When Japan requested the files be sent back, the US agreed, but first copied all the files into more than 2,000 microfilms.

 

Photo: Li Hao/GT

Photo: Li Hao/GT

The editorial board borrowed the microfilms, copied, and printed those that were strategic policies made by the Japanese government. The translated versions followed.

One part of the first book contains a record of a meeting that Hirohito attended, where the authority reported the situation of governing China to the emperor.

Some experts at the press conference noted that such documents are evidence that Hirohito was responsible for the war, as he approved some top-secret military actions.

Some senior generals were also nominated by the emperor, such as the commander of Unit 731, a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by the Japanese army.

Another document shows that after occupying the three northeast provinces of China, Japan decided to carry out different policies and completely allow Japanese merchants to run businesses and tap natural resources on Chinese lands.

Photo: Li Hao/GT

All of the files printed in these books are original documents to restore historical truth. The use of their own materials to oppose some denialist voices in Japan is considered a useful method by experts who attended the press conference.

The translation team spent more than two years finishing the translation of over 4,400 pages of documents into Mandarin. Yet, due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, translation works ran into some troubles. Some translators had to stay in other places, and even stay abroad, to join in the work.

Jiang Hong, a professor at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday that she suggested combining history with practical, present-day problems, including some territorial disputes, in further publications to discuss the issues more effectively.

The latest installment follows three series about the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression that were published in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

These three series also display secret files of the Japanese army, but have different themes, respectively talking about the September 18 Incident, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the invasion of the island of Taiwan.