As global audiences watched the premiere of Evil Unbound this week – a documentary exposing Japan's Unit 731 biological warfare experiments during WWII – renewed attention has fallen on China's six-year struggle to preserve historical records of wartime atrocities through UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
A Battle for Historical Recognition
China's 2016 application to list archives from the secret Harbin facility, where Japanese forces conducted lethal human experiments, remains unresolved. A recent investigation by China Media Group's Yuyuan Tantian revealed coordinated efforts by Japanese right-wing groups and government-backed actors to obstruct the process. Similar tactics reportedly derailed China's 2014 and 2017 attempts to document the 'comfort women' system.
The Duplicate Submission Strategy
UNESCO procedures entered uncharted territory in 2017 when Japan filed a competing 'comfort women' application mirroring China's submission. While Beijing's dossier contained evidence of systemic sexual slavery, Tokyo's version claimed the system was 'voluntary' and that its military maintained 'discipline.' This rare instance of duplicate applications triggered UNESCO's conflict resolution protocol, effectively freezing both submissions.
From Housewives to Geopolitics
The investigation traced Japan's 2017 counter-bid to activist Yumiko Yamamoto, described in local media as an ordinary housewife. However, deeper analysis revealed connections to nationalist historian Hideaki Kase – son of a former Japanese UN ambassador who defended Japan's wartime actions. Financial records showed Japan's Foreign Ministry allocated substantial resources to cultivate international support, including through government-funded exchange programs.
A Rule Change With Global Implications
In 2021, UNESCO amended its submission guidelines to allow single member states to indefinitely block applications through formal objections. Critics argue this empowers historical aggressors to control narratives about their past actions. The development comes as China's cultural authorities vow to continue pursuing international recognition for wartime archives, stating: 'Historical truth cannot be buried by political maneuvering.'
