https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/rss/318727/feed In the first half of the 20th century, Japan invaded and occupied large areas of Asia, and the scars of Japan's wartime atrocities in Asia are still obvious in China and the Korean peninsula as the region prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war. Although the nations have solid trade and tourism ties with their former colonial aggressor, diplomatic relations remain poor, soured by territorial disputes and rising nationalism. en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg Kyodo Kyodo Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Saturday sent a ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, regarded by Japan’s neighbours as a symbol of the country’s past militarism, at the start of its three-day autumn festival. Takaichi, known as a conservative who routinely visited the Shinto shrine before becoming prime minister a year ago, was unlikely to visit the shrine during the festival, a source close to her said, amid strained relations with China and relatively stable ties with South Korea. The... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3371219/japans-takaichi-sends-offering-controversial-yasukuni-war-shrine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3371219/japans-takaichi-sends-offering-controversial-yasukuni-war-shrine?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Oct 2026 00:33:20 +0000 Cao Jiaxuan Cao Jiaxuan A decades-long effort by Beijing and Washington to recover the remains of US servicemen missing in China since World War II has resurfaced in the wake of the summit between the nations’ leaders. The commitment was included in an eight-point list of outcomes from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s three-day state visit last week, alongside other agreements covering issues including artificial intelligence and trade. According to a statement issued by China’s foreign ministry after the summit, the two... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3369361/why-did-trump-and-xi-seal-deal-world-war-ii-soldiers-missing-remains?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3369361/why-did-trump-and-xi-seal-deal-world-war-ii-soldiers-missing-remains?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Sep 2026 15:00:06 +0000 Kyodo Kyodo A video installation built around the testimony of a former Japanese soldier on the killing of civilians and sexual assault in wartime China will go on display in London in October, even as its creator struggles to find a museum willing to exhibit the award-winning work in Japan. Created by contemporary artist Meiro Koizumi, “The Angels of Testimony”, has won acclaim overseas, but Japanese museums have been reluctant to exhibit the work, which confronts memories of violence committed by Japanese... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3368928/japanese-museums-shun-video-artwork-wartime-atrocities-acclaimed-abroad?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3368928/japanese-museums-shun-video-artwork-wartime-atrocities-acclaimed-abroad?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Sep 2026 03:03:08 +0000 Nayan Seth,Lucy Quaggin,Josephine Ma Nayan Seth,Lucy Quaggin,Josephine Ma In a surprise nod to shared history, US President Donald Trump called China a World War II ally as he welcomed Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday ahead of summit talks. But the historical reference was far from one-sided, with both leaders repeatedly referring to the joint fight against Japanese aggression as they sought to emphasise the long history of US-China friendship and the need to seek common ground. “If we focus on our common interests, I’m confident there is much we can... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3368844/trump-hails-wwii-ally-china-xi-tells-bonds-forged-blood-and-fire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/diplomacy/article/3368844/trump-hails-wwii-ally-china-xi-tells-bonds-forged-blood-and-fire?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:06:23 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Three South Korean military officers were injured in an explosion during an operation near the heavily mined border with North Korea, Seoul’s military said Monday. The incident occurred south of the military demarcation line inside the demilitarised zone (DMZ), one of the world’s most heavily fortified and mined frontiers. Two of the injured officers were evacuated by helicopter, while a third was due to be transported by road before being airlifted, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. It was... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3368200/suspected-landmine-blast-injures-south-korean-soldiers-dmz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3368200/suspected-landmine-blast-injures-south-korean-soldiers-dmz?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Sep 2026 03:53:39 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan’s wartime kamikaze pilots remain among the most recognisable symbols of the Pacific war: young men flying aircraft into Allied ships on missions from which they were not expected to return. Far less well-remembered are the fukuryu – suicide frogmen trained in the closing months of World War II to walk into the sea with mines on bamboo poles, then wait beneath the waves for an Allied invasion fleet. Kanade Hamamoto was one of many Japanese people who had never heard of them, despite... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3368036/crouching-dragons-suicide-divers-japan-never-sent-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3368036/crouching-dragons-suicide-divers-japan-never-sent-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Sep 2026 01:30:08 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall South Korean citizens’ groups have called for the abuse of wartime “comfort women” to be recognised by Unesco, as analysts say the ongoing feud between Seoul and Tokyo threatens to upset recent improvements in their relations. They also suggest that the two nations would benefit from working together at a time of unprecedented regional and global security and economic challenges, although they admit that may be impossible. On Sunday, a coalition of South Korean citizens’ groups called on the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366655/can-japan-south-korea-move-past-comfort-women-issue?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3366655/can-japan-south-korea-move-past-comfort-women-issue?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Sep 2026 01:30:10 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Japan is weighing how far to push back after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a disputed island last week, as analysts debate whether tougher measures would have much impact on Moscow. Some observers urged Japan to recall its ambassador, impose additional sanctions and deepen cooperation with Ukraine to show it would not be “bullied”, while others said Tokyo had little economic leverage left given already weak bilateral ties and its reliance on Russian natural gas. Putin made his... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3364525/will-putins-kuril-islands-visit-push-japan-closer-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3364525/will-putins-kuril-islands-visit-push-japan-closer-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Aug 2026 06:00:06 +0000 Han Li Han Li When Manli Ho saw her father’s name being used to advertise US$40,000 houses in his hometown in China, she was outraged. “He Saved 18,000 Jewish Lives in WWII. His Hometown Has Homes for $40,000,” one headline on the now-removed English-language webpage read. Manli Ho, 75, is the daughter of Ho Feng-shan, the Chinese diplomat widely known in the West as the “Chinese Schindler” for issuing thousands of visas to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution while serving as China’s consul-general in Vienna,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/article/3363697/daughter-chinese-schindler-protests-website-using-fathers-legacy-sell-homes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/article/3363697/daughter-chinese-schindler-protests-website-using-fathers-legacy-sell-homes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Aug 2026 16:24:13 +0000 SCMP’s Asia desk SCMP’s Asia desk A South Korean actress has apologised for the controversy surrounding her great-grandfather’s pro-Japanese ties during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule, a day after calling the accusations “groundless”. “After further checking, we have confirmed that records of great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho being listed as a councillor of the Daejong Chinmokhoe in 1916 actually existed,” Anh Ha-young’s agency Bistrus Entertainment said on Tuesday, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. “We sincerely apologise for... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3363654/south-korean-actress-ha-young-sorry-controversy-over-ancestors-pro-japanese-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3363654/south-korean-actress-ha-young-sorry-controversy-over-ancestors-pro-japanese-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Aug 2026 08:52:51 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo People always talk knowingly about Weimar, a period of extremes: artistic and social-sexual decadence, democratic liberalism and the radicalisation of the left and the right, before Germany’s descent into Hitlerian hell. The city as a symbol, close to the site of the former Buchenwald concentration camp, is back in the news, well, at least the op-ed pages of the Western press. That’s rarely a good sign. “The new crisis [in Germany] seems uncomfortably familiar because, in some respects, it... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3356304/forget-weimar-its-japans-taisho-period-we-need-talk-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3356304/forget-weimar-its-japans-taisho-period-we-need-talk-about?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jun 2026 21:30:07 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ruled out expanding military ties with Japan any time soon, insisting that historical grievances must be resolved first. The two countries have come under growing pressure to strengthen defence ties as North Korea, China and Russia draw closer together. But analysts say such a move remains politically risky for Lee’s government given deep-seated public resentment in South Korea towards Japan. To explain why his country could not yet embrace military... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3356366/south-korea-tells-japan-apologise-military-cooperation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3356366/south-korea-tells-japan-apologise-military-cooperation?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:12 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall A museum in Japan is facing accusations of “rewriting history” for replacing the Nanking massacre with the word “incident”, drawing criticism and reviving anger over the country’s wartime aggression. The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, which previously resisted revisionist attempts, appears to have capitulated to a civic group’s pressure campaign following Thursday’s release of proposed exhibit changes by its operations council. Other amendments announced by the museum, which opened in 1996,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3356254/japan-museum-under-fire-rewriting-history-nanking-incident-label?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3356254/japan-museum-under-fire-rewriting-history-nanking-incident-label?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Jun 2026 02:00:06 +0000 Christine Loh Christine Loh Since the Ukraine war began in 2022, Asia has been watching conflict as if enrolled in a study course. We have heard every argument: Nato enlargement, Russian insecurity, Ukrainian sovereignty, European fear, American power, energy politics, sanctions, nationalism and resistance. We have watched Gaza burn. We have watched the United States capture Venezuela’s president and defend the act as lawful. We have watched Iran absorb attacks and retaliate. For Asians, these are no longer distant events.... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3355563/5-lessons-asia-it-studies-wars-privilege-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3355563/5-lessons-asia-it-studies-wars-privilege-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Jun 2026 21:30:06 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Statues erected by South Korean civic groups on the other side of the world honouring the tens of thousands of women forced into sexual slavery by imperial Japanese forces during World War II have once again succeeded in making Tokyo’s elites deeply uncomfortable. The decisions by local governments in Germany’s capital and New Zealand’s largest city to rescind or decline to renew permits for “comfort women” memorials have been pounced on by conservatives within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3353417/japan-south-korea-comfort-women-row-stoked-statues-abroad?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3353417/japan-south-korea-comfort-women-row-stoked-statues-abroad?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sent a ritual offering on Tuesday to a shrine honouring the country’s war dead that has long angered neighbouring countries but did not visit in person, media reports and an unidentified source close to the matter said. The Yasukuni shrine in central Tokyo is dedicated to 2.5 million war dead, mostly Japanese, who perished in conflicts since the late 19th century. That number includes senior military and political figures convicted by an international... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3350867/japans-takaichi-sends-yasukuni-shrine-offering-south-korea-expresses-regret?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3350867/japans-takaichi-sends-yasukuni-shrine-offering-south-korea-expresses-regret?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:58:05 +0000 Raissa Robles Raissa Robles As Japanese combat troops prepare to join war games in the Philippines next month – their first return to Philippine soil since 1945 – some Filipinos say the real issue is not only what Japan is doing now, but what it still has not fully reckoned with from the past. For survivors, activists and historians, Tokyo’s expanding security role in the Philippines has revived what one campaigner called “the elephant in the room” – the absence, in their view, of a formal state apology and official... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3348443/japans-wartime-past-weighs-growing-military-role-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3348443/japans-wartime-past-weighs-growing-military-role-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:13 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Shigeaki Mori, the Japanese atomic bomb survivor whose hug with then US president Barack Obama at a 2016 remembrance event in Hiroshima went viral globally, has died at the age of 88, just days after warning that the world seems on the brink of another nuclear catastrophe. Tributes have been coming in since Mori died in Hiroshima on Saturday, with many pointing out that as well as being a survivor of the world’s first atomic weapon, he was also a keen amateur historian who attracted attention in... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3346998/japanese-atomic-bomb-survivor-who-hugged-obama-hiroshima-dies-88?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3346998/japanese-atomic-bomb-survivor-who-hugged-obama-hiroshima-dies-88?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 07:12:20 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall They were killed by American bombs. They were held at gunpoint by Japanese guards who fired indiscriminately into the crowded holds and when the ship finally went down, many were left to drown. Eight decades later, the United States is coming back for them. Hundreds perished when the Japanese “hell ship” Oryoku Maru was sunk in Subic Bay in December 1944. Now, the Pentagon has launched a multi-year mission in waters off the Philippines to retrieve their remains. As many as 250 Americans are... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3346424/us-returns-wwii-dead-japans-hell-ship-tomb-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3346424/us-returns-wwii-dead-japans-hell-ship-tomb-philippines?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Mar 2026 02:30:08 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan’s government plans to revive the military ranks used by its armed forces before and during World War II, in a symbolic gesture to please conservatives that analysts warn could stoke regional tensions. The plan, first floated in November after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party had struck a coalition deal with the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), appeared to have been pushed by senior JIP members, the Asahi newspaper reported on Saturday. The LDP has reportedly agreed to the change on the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3342089/japan-set-revive-wwii-military-titles-controversial-shift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3342089/japan-set-revive-wwii-military-titles-controversial-shift?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 01:30:16 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall More than eight decades after her mother narrowly survived the sinking of the steamer Tsushima Maru, Tsugiko Taira says the wreck still speaks to her. She believes artefacts lying on the seabed could give new voice to one of the worst civilian maritime tragedies of World War II. Taira’s reflections come as Japan’s government considers whether to retrieve items from the wreck for public display. Officials have conducted a survey and, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, will... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3340452/japans-tsushima-maru-sinking-will-recovery-artefacts-end-silence-wwii-tragedy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/people/article/3340452/japans-tsushima-maru-sinking-will-recovery-artefacts-end-silence-wwii-tragedy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:17 +0000 Bernard Chan Bernard Chan I attended a memorial service last month for victims of the Nanking massacre, held at the Hong Kong government offices in Admiralty. Such occasions are solemn reminders of history’s darkest moments, forcing us to pause and reflect on the scale of the tragedy that unfolded after the city was seized on December 13, 1937, and the broader suffering inflicted on China during World War II. Government figures estimate that military and civilian casualties exceeded 35 million, with 21 million lives... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3339076/amid-historical-tensions-japan-hong-kong-must-engage-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3339076/amid-historical-tensions-japan-hong-kong-must-engage-future?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Jan 2026 01:30:11 +0000 Wenran Jiang Wenran Jiang For China’s leadership, the most urgent lesson of modern military power comes not from a foreign manual but from its own history books. Its catastrophic defeat by Japan in 1895, born of internal corruption, forms the invisible backdrop to every Chinese showcase of modern hardware. The recent live-fire drill around Taiwan code-named Justice Mission 2025 – a forceful display of Beijing’s resolve to achieve reunification and deter any challenge to its core interests – was no exception. To Beijing,... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3338815/how-chinas-history-links-military-strength-fighting-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3338815/how-chinas-history-links-military-strength-fighting-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Jan 2026 01:30:11 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin The late Emperor Hirohito of Japan should be held accountable under international law for the crimes of Unit 731, according to Chinese scholars who say the wartime ruler authorised the infamous programme but was shielded from prosecution by US policy after World War II. The secret Japanese military unit in northeastern China, which was responsible for human experimentation, biological warfare and at least tens of thousands of civilian deaths, had been created by imperial order in 1936, said Zhou... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3337529/china-urged-sue-over-japanese-royals-role-unit-731-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3337529/china-urged-sue-over-japanese-royals-role-unit-731-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Dec 2025 04:00:09 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s revival of Tokyo’s claim to islets whose symbolic weight far outweighs their size has rekindled an old dispute that may play well with nationalist supporters at home, but risks derailing hard-won diplomatic progress abroad. Seoul swiftly shot down Takaichi’s assertion last week that the rocky outcrops, known as Takeshima to Japan and Dokdo to South Korea, belong to Tokyo. “Dokdo is clearly our inherent territory,” the presidential office said in a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3336570/china-likely-celebrating-japan-south-korea-clash-over-islets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3336570/china-likely-celebrating-japan-south-korea-clash-over-islets?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Dec 2025 05:00:11 +0000 Walter Woon Walter Woon The Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers Shigure, Isokaze, Hamakaze and Yukizake were assigned to escort duties when convoys were sent to Singapore to collect badly needed supplies for Japan during the second world war. The destroyers protected the light carrier Ryuho carrying a load of aircraft bound for the Japanese colony of Taiwan. This brief synopsis appears in episode six of the second series of the Japanese anime Kantai Collection (“Fleet Girls Collection”), also known as KanColle, in which... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3336265/singapore-taiwan-japan-must-face-its-past-asias-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3336265/singapore-taiwan-japan-must-face-its-past-asias-future?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Dec 2025 03:00:28 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall More than 103,000 people have signed an online petition demanding that K-pop girl group Aespa be banned from taking part in a New Year music event in Japan over an image posted by one of its singers that protesters claim depicts the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The petition, on Change.org, points out that the singer posted a picture of an “atomic bomb model light” on a social media site with the message, “I bought a cute light! What do you think?” Even though the post was in May... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3333786/outrage-japan-over-k-pop-aespas-singer-posting-atomic-bomb-image?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3333786/outrage-japan-over-k-pop-aespas-singer-posting-atomic-bomb-image?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Nov 2025 06:55:09 +0000 Kolette Lim Kolette Lim Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has voiced hope that China and Japan can de-escalate tensions, following a row sparked by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on the Taiwan Strait. At the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Wednesday, Wong said Singapore and fellow Southeast Asian states supported Tokyo stepping into a bigger role in the region, including on the security front, for greater stability. Takaichi earlier this month said Japan could deploy its military in the event... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3333451/singapore-pm-hopes-china-japan-find-ways-resolve-taiwan-strait-row?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3333451/singapore-pm-hopes-china-japan-find-ways-resolve-taiwan-strait-row?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:45:32 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is under growing pressure from nationalist conservatives to make a high-profile visit to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine, a symbolic move that analysts warn could embolden the country’s far-right and strain relations with neighbours. While Takaichi has long championed visits to the shrine, which honours Japan’s war dead including 14 convicted Class A war criminals, she has so far held off as leader – opting instead to send a ritual offering during... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3331994/yasukuni-litmus-test-looms-japans-new-pm-takaichi?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3331994/yasukuni-litmus-test-looms-japans-new-pm-takaichi?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Nov 2025 02:00:19 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall A Chinese historical film about Japan’s wartime atrocities has drawn criticism not for its subject matter, but over what many viewers have described as a clumsy portrayal of one of the darkest chapters of World War II. 731 – a drama centred on the Imperial Japanese Army’s notorious biological warfare unit that conducted experiments on Chinese civilians under the guise of disease prevention – premiered on September 18 to coincide with the anniversary of the 1931 Mukden Incident, the false-flag... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3331291/chinese-wwii-film-731s-historical-hiccups-eclipse-anti-japanese-concern?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3331291/chinese-wwii-film-731s-historical-hiccups-eclipse-anti-japanese-concern?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Nov 2025 05:30:44 +0000 Reuters Reuters Former prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, who died on Friday aged 101, was best known for his landmark apology for Japan’s World War II aggression 50 years after its surrender, an expression of contrition that became the standard for subsequent leaders. As head of an unwieldy coalition of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party and his own Socialist Party from 1994 to 1996, the bushy-eyebrowed Murayama oversaw a period of turmoil including a devastating 1995 earthquake in western Japan and a... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3329360/japan-ex-pm-murayama-who-apologised-wwii-aggression-dies-101?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/east-asia/article/3329360/japan-ex-pm-murayama-who-apologised-wwii-aggression-dies-101?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Oct 2025 05:45:28 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have urged US President Donald Trump to visit their cities during his coming trip to Japan, in a symbolic appeal for him to witness the consequences of nuclear war first hand. While observers view such a visit as improbable given the political risks, the mayors’ appeal highlights growing concern over the erosion of the nuclear taboo, a concern echoed in the letter’s warning about rising global tensions and the dwindling number of hibakusha, or atomic bomb... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3328879/japans-atom-bombed-cities-want-trump-see-what-unfolded-under-mushroom-cloud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3328879/japans-atom-bombed-cities-want-trump-see-what-unfolded-under-mushroom-cloud?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Oct 2025 03:00:14 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Beneath the turquoise waters of a remote Pacific atoll, a Japanese warship sunk more than 80 years ago has begun leaking fuel oil, threatening ecological disaster. The source of the leak is the Rio de Janeiro Maru, a huge vessel used by the Imperial Japanese Navy as a submarine tender during World War II that was sunk by American bombers more than 80 years ago. Today, as oil streams from its rusting hulk, officials in the Chuuk Islands fear this may be just the first instance of hazardous waste... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3328576/japanese-ghost-fleet-rusting-wwii-wrecks-poisoning-pacific-paradise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/health-environment/article/3328576/japanese-ghost-fleet-rusting-wwii-wrecks-poisoning-pacific-paradise?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Oct 2025 00:00:08 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow As Japan prepares to swear in its first female prime minister, old ghosts of the past are threatening to haunt her leadership. Sanae Takaichi’s hard-edged views on history and national identity have stirred anxieties from Seoul to Beijing, even though analysts believe the former security minister’s stance may be tempered by the realities of fragile coalitions in a volatile region. Takaichi’s election last weekend as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party marked a moment of both historic... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3328214/will-japans-new-pm-reopen-old-war-wounds-south-korea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3328214/will-japans-new-pm-reopen-old-war-wounds-south-korea?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Oct 2025 00:00:08 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall With his days in power numbered, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba appears poised to make one final, politically risky stand by invoking the country’s wartime past, a move that could complicate the agenda of his incoming, more hardline successor. Ishiba has resisted pressure from within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and is expected to deliver a speech on Friday to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II – a politically fraught subject that has stirred... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3328144/japans-outgoing-pm-eyes-risky-final-act-blunt-hawkish-china-tilt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3328144/japans-outgoing-pm-eyes-risky-final-act-blunt-hawkish-china-tilt?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Oct 2025 02:30:07 +0000 Yuanyue Dang Yuanyue Dang 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... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/politics/article/3327875/china-slams-toys-featuring-japans-unit-731-known-wwii-atrocities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/politics/article/3327875/china-slams-toys-featuring-japans-unit-731-known-wwii-atrocities?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Oct 2025 01:00:14 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall A leading contender to become Japan’s next prime minister has sparked backlash from conservatives after suggesting the removal of Class A war criminals from the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, a “bold” idea that analysts say could help repair strained ties with neighbouring countries over Tokyo’s wartime history. Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet secretary and a front-runner in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership race on Saturday, proposed separating the “souls” of 14 men convicted... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3327856/japanese-politicians-call-remove-yasukunis-war-criminals-sparks-right-wing-anger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3327856/japanese-politicians-call-remove-yasukunis-war-criminals-sparks-right-wing-anger?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Oct 2025 02:00:34 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin Sapphire Dingler was shaken as the dark past emerged before her. Dingler, a US master’s student in public history at Southern New Hampshire University, was sifting through newly digitised American archives when she stumbled upon testimony about a Japanese doctor’s grisly wartime experiments on Western prisoners in Tokyo. The doctor was Hisakichi Tokuda, a young and ambitious physician inspired by Unit 731, an imperial Japanese Army base in northern China infamous for biological warfare and... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3327526/us-records-shed-light-forgotten-western-victims-japans-wwii-human-experiments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/china/science/article/3327526/us-records-shed-light-forgotten-western-victims-japans-wwii-human-experiments?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Oct 2025 13:30:08 +0000 Cannix Yau,Harvey Kong,Vivian Au,William Yiu Cannix Yau,Harvey Kong,Vivian Au,William Yiu Evacuation procedures to remove around 6,000 residents from Hong Kong’s Quarry Bay neighbourhood took place on Friday night after a 1,000lb (454kg) wartime bomb described as “highly dangerous” was found at a construction site. As of Saturday at 7am, police specialists were still disposing of the bomb, which was found at a site on Pan Hoi Street. The Transport Department said on Saturday morning that road sections near the bomb site would remain closed. They included all lanes of Pan Hoi Street... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/society/article/3326106/300-evacuated-after-suspected-wartime-bomb-found-hong-kongs-quarry-bay?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/hong-kong/society/article/3326106/300-evacuated-after-suspected-wartime-bomb-found-hong-kongs-quarry-bay?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Sep 2025 05:55:23 +0000 Peter T. C. Chang Peter T. C. Chang Eighty years on, the Global South’s pursuit of a just world order remains overshadowed by the unresolved legacies of the second world war. At China’s Victory Day parade last week, President Xi Jinping warned that the world stands at a crossroads – between peace and war. He urged nations to learn from history to prevent a repeat of the catastrophe that engulfed the world eight decades ago. In the lead-up to the commemoration, concerns intensified over Japan’s perceived lack of genuine remorse for... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3324772/chinas-victory-day-parade-heralds-new-vision-old-wounds-linger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3324772/chinas-victory-day-parade-heralds-new-vision-old-wounds-linger?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Sep 2025 21:30:08 +0000 Audrey Jiajia Li Audrey Jiajia Li On September 3, I watched the live broadcast of China’s military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War II. The perfectly aligned formations, the roaring fighter jets, the cutting-edge unmanned combat systems – the spectacle spoke for itself. Scanning international media, I found commentary interpreting the parade as a show of force by China and Russia against the United States, or warning about the Taiwan Strait and wider region. On Weibo, Chinese sentiment was... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3324655/remembering-chinese-war-pain-deemed-unworthy-west?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3324655/remembering-chinese-war-pain-deemed-unworthy-west?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Sep 2025 01:30:07 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall South Korea’s decision to not attend a memorial event at the Sado Island gold mines in Japan underscores how bilateral ties are still strained by historical grievances, but analysts say both sides are mindful not to escalate tensions in the face of shared regional threats. Seoul informed Tokyo on Thursday that it would not send representatives to the September 13 ceremony honouring wartime workers at the disputed Unesco World Heritage site, citing a failure to agree on language acknowledging... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3324600/sado-mine-memorial-reopens-seoul-tokyo-war-wounds-shared-threats-overshadow-grievances?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3324600/sado-mine-memorial-reopens-seoul-tokyo-war-wounds-shared-threats-overshadow-grievances?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Sep 2025 00:00:08 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall The son of a British soldier who endured three years as a prisoner of war (POW) has expressed deep disappointment that senior Japanese politicians ignored invitations to a commemorative event on Tuesday to mark 80 years since Tokyo’s formal surrender in the second world war and the liberation of thousands of Allied prisoners of war. Terry Smyth, a fellow in the history department at the University of Essex, said it would have been particularly appropriate if Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3324236/japans-defensive-stance-over-wwii-history-upsets-british-pows-son?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3324236/japans-defensive-stance-over-wwii-history-upsets-british-pows-son?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Sep 2025 03:00:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters As Vietnam celebrates the 80th anniversary of its declaration of independence from colonial rule this week, French cultural influence remains ubiquitous, but not many people in the Southeast Asian nation are aware of its prevalence. A massive military parade will herald on Tuesday the independence proclaimed by revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh on September 2, 1945, which was meant to end nearly a century of French rule but instead started a decade-long war until the defeated French eventually... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3323900/vietnams-french-legacy-fades-chinas-influence-grows-80-years-after-independence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3323900/vietnams-french-legacy-fades-chinas-influence-grows-80-years-after-independence?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Sep 2025 08:21:15 +0000 Hou Yanqi Hou Yanqi Eighty years ago, after 14 years of bloody and unrelenting struggling, the Chinese people won a great victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, a crucial part of the global fight against fascism. The vicious Japanese militarist aggressors had inflicted immense suffering on China, Southeast Asia and the world at large. The flames of war engulfed more than 80 countries and regions, affecting some 2 billion people. Military and civilian casualties exceeded 100 million. Human... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3323697/china-southeast-asia-and-shared-legacy-anti-fascist-struggle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/opinion/article/3323697/china-southeast-asia-and-shared-legacy-anti-fascist-struggle?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Aug 2025 03:00:15 +0000 Julian Ryall Julian Ryall Japan has called on the Chinese government to take steps against a surge of artificial-intelligence videos on Chinese social media mocking Emperor Hirohito, the wartime monarch, warning that the clips risk further straining already fraught bilateral ties. There has been a sharp increase in video clips released on Chinese social media in the run-up to a military parade scheduled for September 3 to mark 80 years since Japan’s surrender ended World War II. In one video, the wartime emperor... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3323347/japan-warns-ai-videos-mocking-wartime-emperor-risk-further-straining-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/week-asia/politics/article/3323347/japan-warns-ai-videos-mocking-wartime-emperor-risk-further-straining-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Aug 2025 01:30:14 +0000 Letters Letters Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification Japan’s National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead took place on August 15, which marked the 80th anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender. “The remorse and lessons from that war should once... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/letters/article/3323158/what-japanese-leaders-choices-war-surrender-anniversary-reveal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/letters/article/3323158/what-japanese-leaders-choices-war-surrender-anniversary-reveal?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Aug 2025 03:31:27 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 3/5 stars On October 1, 1942, the Japanese cargo liner Lisbon Maru was secretly transporting more than 1,800 British prisoners of war across the East China Sea when it was torpedoed by an American submarine. More than 800 POWs either drowned or were shot by Japanese soldiers as they attempted to escape, and close to 400 men were rescued from the water by courageous Chinese fishermen who came to their aid from a village on Dongji island in the nearby Zhoushan Archipelago. This little-known tale... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3322487/dongji-rescue-movie-review-chinese-historical-epic-thrilling-yet-preposterous?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3322487/dongji-rescue-movie-review-chinese-historical-epic-thrilling-yet-preposterous?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2025 09:15:08 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 3/5 stars The Nanking massacre of 1937 – which took place in the Chinese city now called Nanjing – was one of the most horrendous wartime atrocities ever committed. While numbers vary wildly, the Chinese government estimates that more than 300,000 civilians and prisoners of war were murdered, and tens of thousands of women raped, by the Imperial Japanese Army during the weeks and months that followed the fall of the Chinese city. Dead to Rights, a new epic set during the occupation, stars Liu... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3322640/dead-rights-movie-review-chinese-blockbuster-recounts-horrors-nanking-massacre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3322640/dead-rights-movie-review-chinese-blockbuster-recounts-horrors-nanking-massacre?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2025 08:15:07 +0000 Wei Wei Wei Wei This year, China marks the 80th anniversary of its victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression – part of the broader victory in the World Anti-Fascist War. Across the country, commemorative exhibitions, television documentaries and a wave of summer blockbuster films have been rolled out to mark the occasion. These films, set in the dark days of the 1930s and 1940s, are not just historical dramas; they are cultural reminders. They show the destruction of war, the brutality of the... https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3322220/chinas-wartime-message-can-sit-alongside-love-todays-japan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www-scmp-com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/opinion/china-opinion/article/3322220/chinas-wartime-message-can-sit-alongside-love-todays-japan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Aug 2025 21:30:08 +0000