- China criticised toys depicting Japan's Unit 731 for distorting history on social media
- Toys sold on Chinese e-commerce sites were removed following PLA's condemnation
- Unit 731's biological warfare experiments killed thousands during World War II
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has criticised toys depicting Japan's infamous Unit 731, which conducted gruesome biological warfare experiments during World War II, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. The PLA's social media account, Junzhengping, slammed the production and sale of these toys, calling them a distortion of history.
The toys, which were building block sets, were being sold on Chinese e-commerce platforms, but have since been removed from sale. The toys had been taken down on Friday.
The PLA account noted that these toys trivialise horrific war crimes, undermining historical justice. Unit 731's actions killed thousands, leaving deep scars. China views Japan's wartime aggression as a painful chapter in its history.
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"On issues of national sentiment and historical justice, there is no room for opportunism or ambiguity," the account named Junzhengping said in a post on Thursday.
"Unit 731 symbolises the crimes against humanity committed by Japanese militarism during the second world war," Junzhengping added. "Its history is a profound wound to our nation."
Chinese media outlets released images that showed the toy's packaging featuring the slogan "remember history" and calling it "patriotic education", "emotional enlightenment" and "military-themed historical recreation".
"Under the guise of 'remembering history', merchants have transformed bloody atrocities into assemblage 'laboratories,'" it continued. "Regardless of their initial intentions, this objectively constitutes an affront to national sentiment and conveys a distorted historical understanding."
As per the report, Junzhengping also urged the e-commerce platforms and regulators to "strengthen content vetting and jointly safeguard the solemnity of history".
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What Was Unit 731?
As per the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Unit 731 was Japan's secret biological and chemical warfare research unit established in the late 1936. The unit was led by Lieutenant General Shiro Ishii, and NIH claimed that it conducted inhumane experiments on thousands of prisoners, including Chinese, Korean, Russian and Mongolian captives.
Unit 731 claimed to have infected prisoners with diseases like bubonic plague, anthrax and cholera. They reportedly performed brutal surgeries on live subjects. The unit also dropped plague-infested fleas over Chinese cities.
