HANGZHOU, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Japanese germ-warfare detachments during World War II not only committed crimes against the Chinese, but also undertook attempts to conduct biological warfare in Southeast Asia, said scholars during a seminar held from Friday to Sunday.
Singaporean expert Lim Shao Bin and Wang Xuan with the History Association of Zhejiang presented findings on 11 previously disclosed documents. Through analyzing the records, they revealed activities of the Japanese biological warfare troop Unit Oka 9420 deployed in Southeast Asia.
Unit Oka 9420 established its headquarters in Singapore during World War II, and set up branches in other Southeast Asia regions, including Thailand and Indonesia. The unit destroyed a large amount of equipment and materials after Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945, and many members hid their identities, said Lim.
Gong Wenjing, a researcher on Japanese germ warfare with the Harbin Academy of Social Sciences, said that the joint research of Chinese and Singaporean scholars contributes to the study of the history of Unit Oka 9420.
Lim is an editor of the Ee Hoe Hean Club, a Chinese community club based in Singapore with a history of over 100 years. He has been dedicated to collecting historical materials on Japanese aggression and recently donated a series of his collections to a museum in Zhejiang.
The seminar, centered on the history of medical care during the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, was held in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. ■