Car owner detained for painting car with words supporting notorious Japanese Army Unit 731
A car owner in Nantong, East China’s Jiangsu Province, was detained by police on Monday for 15 days after sparking outrage among the public for painting his car with words in support of the notorious Japanese Army Unit 731, which conducted brutal human experiments and bacterial warfare in China during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).
The car, painted with a US national flag on the side and the words “Invincible Japanese Army Unit 731” on the back, was spotted by local residents on Monday morning who then posted photos of the car on Sina Weibo. They called on local police to “teach him a lesson.”
It soon drew fury from Chinese netizens, who slammed the deed as an insult to the country and its history of suffering. Some were reminded of the Nanjing Massacre in 1937, when nearly 300,000 people were brutally killed by Japanese troops.
Nantong police said the car owner, surnamed Yin and aged 31, will be detained for 15 days for posing a bad influence in public. According to the statement issued by police, Yin was acting out of “curiosity” and “an intention to brag.”
In August, more concrete evidence of Japanese troops’ germ warfare during World War II was made public, after confessions by a commander of Japanese Army Unit 731 to the US after the war were released in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Shocking details were also released about the secret deal in which the US helped Japanese war criminals escape punishment in exchange for information on biological weapons so that the US could develop its own.
The car, painted with a US national flag on the side and the words “Invincible Japanese Army Unit 731” on the back, was spotted by local residents on Monday morning who then posted photos of the car on Sina Weibo. They called on local police to “teach him a lesson.”
It soon drew fury from Chinese netizens, who slammed the deed as an insult to the country and its history of suffering. Some were reminded of the Nanjing Massacre in 1937, when nearly 300,000 people were brutally killed by Japanese troops.
Photo taken on April 18, 2014 shows the ruins of a Unit 731 boiler building in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Unit 731 was a Harbin-based biological and chemical warfare research unit of the Japanese army during WWII. The Unit 731 facility ruins in Harbin are evidences of the wartime atrocities committed by Japanese invaders in China. Unit 731 members conducted a series of human experiments which subjected victims to vivisections, germ war attacks, weapon tests and other forms of torture. April 18 is the International Day for Monuments and Sites. Its theme for 2014 is "heritage for commemoration". (Xinhua/Wang Kai)
Nantong police said the car owner, surnamed Yin and aged 31, will be detained for 15 days for posing a bad influence in public. According to the statement issued by police, Yin was acting out of “curiosity” and “an intention to brag.”
In August, more concrete evidence of Japanese troops’ germ warfare during World War II was made public, after confessions by a commander of Japanese Army Unit 731 to the US after the war were released in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Shocking details were also released about the secret deal in which the US helped Japanese war criminals escape punishment in exchange for information on biological weapons so that the US could develop its own.
