101 East- History wars
101 East

History wars

We investigate a documentary that denies Japanese atrocities in China during WWII.

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Nanjing massacre: true or false? 101 East investigates a new documentary that controversially questions whether Japanese soldiers committed atrocities in China during the prelude to WWII.

The upcoming national release in Japan of The Truth About Nanjing, which honours a number of executed Japanese war criminals as martyrs, is likely to stir up perennially tense ties between Japan and China.

Prominent Japanese historian and social commentator Hideaki Kase tells 101 East that historical documents prove no massacre occurred after Japanese troops entered China’s then capital of Nanjing in 1937.

But US-based historian Richard Chu argues vehemently that the imperial soldiers did, in fact, commit innumerable and inexcusable atrocities.

This episode of 101 East aired on Thursday, February 21, 2008.