Chinese FM urges Japan to do serious soul-searching over report on Imperial Japanese Army's 'live human xenotransfusion' experiments

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at Monday's regular press conference that Japanese invaders, who conducted large-scale and gruesome human experimentation and germ warfare, shall forever be nailed to the eternal pillar of shame, adding, "We call on Japan to do serious soul-searching, make a clean break with militarism, and earn the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community with concrete actions."

These remarks were made when he was asked to comment on Japanese media reported that according to records from a Japanese military medical conference held in 1940, the Imperial Japanese Army may have repeatedly conducted experiments involving the transfusion of animal blood into humans during its aggression in the autumn of 1938. The report indicates that the gender, age and nationalities of the 23 test subjects were not specified and the experiments were probably carried out in China. It is also mentioned that Japan's military authorities attempted to destroy evidence related to human experimentation after the country's defeat in WWII. Before that, archives from the Soviet Union's Khabarovsk Trial of Unit 731 show that Japanese military doctors described live human xenotransfusion experiments as a "standardized, routine program."

Guo said that "we noted relevant reports," adding that the Khabarovsk Trial in 1949, an extension and complement to the Tokyo Trials, left behind numerous well-preserved audio recordings, transcripts and physical evidence. They form a complete chain of solid evidence that brings to light the crimes of the Japanese military's germ warfare. Discoveries like these have opened the eyes of many in the world, including the Japanese public, to this dark and horror-filled chapter of history. 

"Only by respecting the verdict of history and facts, recovering their missing pieces and upholding peace, can the tragedy of war stop repeating itself. By remilitarizing itself, Japan is summoning the past and heading down a treacherous path," Guo said.