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Mandy Zuo

One university lecturer was fired and a staff member at a different school lost her teaching licence this week after recently making contentious comments about Sino-Japanese history that strayed from official narratives.
Shanghai Aurora College announced on Thursday it had fired lecturer Song Gengyi for questioning the Chinese government’s official death toll of 300,000 for the 1937 Nanking massacre, which took place in the city of Nanjing.
China held events across the country this week to honour the 84th anniversary of the massacre.
Song’s lecture was recorded by a student and leaked online, causing an online firestorm.

The journalism teacher called the 300,000 deaths tally a “rough estimate that lacked statistical support” and pointed out that historical estimates range from “thousands” to 500,000 people killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War massacre.
She said that the number should be easy to calculate, but neither the Republic of China, the ruling government during that period, nor the Chinese Communist Party, who has ruled China since 1949, bothered to investigate thoroughly.
According to the video, which went viral, Song said, “the Japanese army did do something inhumane in Nanjing, but I think we need to study why they could do such horrible things.”
“We should not always be immersed in hatred. Instead, we should remember this page in history and think about how this war came to be,” she continued.
In its announcement, the Shanghai college said Song “made the wrong comments” and “made a major teaching accident that created a negative social influence”. Therefore, the school said, it decided to fire her.

On the same day, Gao Weijia, a staff member from Qingdao University, had her teaching licence revoked and was transferred to a non-teaching post after publishing an opinion on Weibo last week that argued young people should “feel free to visit the Yasukuni Shrine”.
The Yasukuni Shrine is a highly controversial monument honouring Japanese soldiers killed in wars since the 19th century. It contains the memorials of convicted war criminals and is viewed in China and South Korea as a reminder of Japan’s history of brutal military imperialism.
Gao made the point that various generations in China have viewed Sino-Japanese history through different lenses.
She wrote, “our generation should feel free to visit” and pointed out that it is less controversial for the older generations who had a closer connection to Japan’s imperial past.

Instead, the younger generation, especially celebrity fans, see the shrine as so taboo that they do not even use the Chinese characters when writing about the Yasukuni Shrine. Instead, they type it out in pinyin, the romanised text of the Chinese language.
The comments came under a few lines in support of Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan, who was blacklisted by authorities earlier this year after photos emerged of him posing amid cherry blossoms outside the shrine in Tokyo back in 2018.
A large number of people were furious with Gao after the university acknowledged a complaint made about the post, claiming she was trying to whitewash Japanese war crimes in China.
“Following her logic, the Chinese foreign ministry lacks national confidence by denouncing visits to the shrine? So it is an act of confidence to worship those ‘ghosts’, and an act of fear not to?” wrote one person on Weibo.


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China-Japan relations

2 mainland university lecturers punished for comments touching Sino-Japanese sensitivities

Song Gengyi was fired from her university over comments she made about the Nanjing Massacre during a lecture. Photo: Weibo

A student recorded Song’s lecture and leaked it online. Photo: Weibo

Chinese troops hold a memorial service to mark the 84th anniversary of the Nanking massacre on Dec. 13, 2021. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan has been blacklisted for this 2018 photo taken outside the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan. Photo: Weibo

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam defends government’s history teaching policy amid Nanking massacre video controversy

Nanjing residents on Monday remember the victims of the Nanking massacre. Photo: AFP

PLK HKTA Yuen Yuen Primary School in Tuen Mun is at the centre of the latest education saga to befall Hong Kong. Photo: Google

A memorial ceremony for the Nanking massacre victims was held on Monday on the 84th anniversary of the atrocities. Photo: Xinhua

Why Hong Kong students need age-appropriate lessons on Nanking massacre

China holds a national memorial ceremony for victims of the Nanking massacre in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on December 13. Photo: Xinhua

China marks 84th anniversary of Nanking massacre amid charged relations with Japan

Local residents mark a minute of silence in front of a memorial to mark China’s National Memorial Day for Nanking massacre victims in Nanjing, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province on December 13, 2021. Photo: AFP

Japanese troops express victory in Nanking – now called Nanjing – in World War II. A national day of commemoration of the tragedy was introduced by China’s top legislature in 2014. Photo: CWH

Nanking massacre should not be taught to young students, former Hong Kong education chief says after outcry over graphic video

Visitors take a closer look in the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre in Nanjing. Photo: Xinhua

Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, former permanent secretary for education and manpower, said the Nanking massacre “should not be taught in lower grades”. Photo: Nora Tam

News

People & Culture

Social Welfare


One lecturer was fired and another was transferred to a non-teaching position for their opinions
The furore came the week China was honouring the 84th anniversary of the Nanking massacre



Two university professors were punished by their schools after making comments that some deemed offensive to Sino-Japanese history.


Nanjing

Chinese history

History

2 mainland university lecturers punished for comments touching Sino-Japanese sensitivities

One lecturer was fired and another was transferred to a non-teaching position for their opinions The furore came the week China was honouring the 84th anniversary of the Nanking massacre

One lecturer was fired and another was transferred to a non-teaching position for their opinions

The furore came the week China was honouring the 84th anniversary of the Nanking massacre