By Yuanyue Dang

Copyright scmp

A social media account run by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has strongly criticised the production and sale of toys depicting Japan’s World War II biological warfare unit, accusing them of promoting a distorted version of history.
“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.
It was referring to several building block sets sold on Chinese e-commerce platforms that have since been removed from sale.
The toy blocks were modelled on facilities operated by Japan’s infamous Unit 731 during World War II. The unit conducted biological warfare in northeastern China under the guise of disease prevention research, killing thousands of civilians in the process.
“Unit 731 symbolises the crimes against humanity committed by Japanese militarism during the second world war,” Junzhengping stated. “Its history is a profound wound to our nation.”

“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.”
In its post, Junzhengping urged e-commerce platforms and regulators to “strengthen content vetting and jointly safeguard the solemnity of history”.
Images released by mainland media outlets showed the product’s packaging featuring the slogan “remember history” and promoting it as “patriotic education”, “emotional enlightenment” and “military-themed historical recreation”.
Mainland media also reported that the toys had been taken down on Friday.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of China’s victory over Japanese aggression in the second world war, a milestone commemorated last month with a grand military parade in Beijing.
Various civilian commemorative events have been held as well, including the release of the film 731, which depicts the atrocities committed by Japan’s biological warfare unit.
The film’s premiere coincided with the anniversary of the September 18, 1931 “Mukden Incident”, the date Beijing identifies as marking the beginning of Japanese aggression against China.
The atrocities perpetrated against civilians during Japan’s occupation, from Unit 731’s human experimentation to a sexual slavery system and mass killings, have been a source of tension in public sentiment and diplomatic relations between the countries.
Recent developments suggest an improvement in the strained relationship between China and Japan. But it has been argued that the release of multiple films this year depicting Japan’s aggression against China, including 731 and Dead to Rights, about the Nanking massacre of 1937, would worsen deteriorating public perceptions in both countries.
Beijing has repeatedly criticised Tokyo for neglecting and “whitewashing” its history of wartime aggression.