On Monday, China commemorated the 88th anniversary of the Lugou Bridge Incident, known as the July 7 Incident of 1937. This pivotal event marked the beginning of the Chinese people’s united resistance against Japanese aggression during World War II.
“Before dawn that day, I was awakened by the sound as the 29th Army clashed with the Japanese,” recalled Zheng Fulai in an interview with China Media Group before his passing in 2024. “Clutching my mother’s dress, I fled to the northern end of Changxindian Town. In a pine grove, covered by cloth, lay the fallen soldiers of the 29th Army who had died defending the city and the bridge.”
Moved by the sacrifices of Chinese soldiers, Zheng dedicated much of his life to educating young people about the war, believing that younger generations should understand their country’s past and what its people endured.
After the incident in southwest Beijing, then known as Peiping, the city fell to the Japanese army on July 29, 1937. Over 10,000 civilians were killed or went missing during the occupation.
The fall of Peiping spurred the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China to unite in resistance against Japanese aggression. This marked the beginning of China’s nationwide effort against the Japanese invasion, recognized as a major front against imperialism and fascism during World War II.
Official data shows that more than 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians died during the war, accounting for nearly 8 percent of China’s total population in 1928.
New Evidence of Wartime Atrocities Unveiled
On Monday, the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crimes Committed by Unit 731 in Harbin City, northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, released for the first time the complete video testimony of Masakuni Kurumizawa, a former member of Unit 731—the infamous Japanese germ-warfare unit during World War II.
In the video, Kurumizawa confessed to heinous crimes, including human dissections, conducting human experiments, and waging biological warfare. He admitted that Unit 731 members used living human bodies to cultivate more virulent bacteria.
“I dissected 300 human bodies, about one-third of which were preserved as specimens, while the rest were burned. When we performed the dissections, the bodies were still warm, and blood spurted out,” Kurumizawa revealed.
Kurumizawa also noted that due to Unit 731’s strict secrecy regulations, even his own family was unaware of his actions. This secrecy contributed to the unit’s atrocities remaining concealed long after World War II.
Jin Shicheng, deputy secretary general of the Harbin Research Institute on History of Bacterial, Gas War of Japanese Invasion in China, emphasized the importance of Kurumizawa’s testimony. He called on global peace advocates to work together to further expose the atrocities committed by Unit 731.
Calls for Reflection and Reconciliation
At the recent 13th World Peace Forum, former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama urged Japan to face historical facts and deeply reflect on its past aggression.
Hatoyama emphasized the importance of accurately teaching history in school textbooks, stating that Japan’s past actions should be presented to children through thorough reflection.
He pointed out that events like the Lugou Bridge Incident are not properly recorded in Japanese textbooks, despite historical evidence showing that Japanese soldiers attacked Chinese forces on July 7, 1937.
Expressing regret that Japan has not fully faced this period of history, Hatoyama stated that repentance for Japan’s past aggression should gradually spread, and he pledged to make continuous efforts to promote this perspective.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945) and the World Anti-Fascist War. China plans to hold multiple commemorative events.
Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, stated that these events offer an opportunity for people worldwide to reflect on building an effective, long-term global security architecture to truly ensure peace.
