China Denounces Japanese Neo-Militarism on Tokyo Trials 80th Anniversary

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China issued warnings against Japanese neo-militarism to mark the 80th anniversary of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, which opened on May 3, 1946. The ministry asserted that accepting the tribunal's judgment is the essential prerequisite for Japan's postwar standing in the international community and warned that any attempt to challenge its legal authority would face global resistance.

Chinese officials accused the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of attempting to whitewash war crimes through textbook revisions and pursuing remilitarization by deploying offensive long-range missiles and seeking to revise the country's pacifist constitution. These concerns were amplified by reports of Takaichi and over 100 politicians visiting the Yasukuni Shrine during annual Spring Rites. In China, the anniversary was commemorated with public visits to historical sites in Nanjing, Nanchang, and Harbin.

The original tribunal, operating from 1946 to 1948, convicted 25 Japanese leaders, including Hideki Tojo, for atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre and the Bataan Death March. The legal proceedings were conducted by 11 countries, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union.