A Chinese envoy on Thursday called for efforts to uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter.
Speaking at an event of the UN General Assembly to mark the 80th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter, Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations said eighty years ago, following the great victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, the San Francisco conference unanimously adopted the UN Charter, laying the cornerstone of multilateralism, establishing the basic norms governing international relations, and charting a clear course forward for humanity.
"We should jointly safeguard the victorious outcomes of World War II and reject any erroneous rhetoric or acts aimed at distorting history. We should firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the rules-based multilateral trading system. We must abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and respect the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all states. And we should champion a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, commit to the peaceful settlement of disputes, and oppose the wanton use or threat of force," Fu said.
He stressed the need to practice true multilateralism, rally behind the central role of the United Nations in international affairs, press ahead with the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and work in concert to address global challenges.
China was the first country to sign the UN Charter, and China will continue to take concrete actions to fulfill its solemn commitment to the charter, work tirelessly to safeguard world peace and development and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, Fu added.
Chinese envoy calls for efforts to uphold int'l system with UN at core
The holdings of the Liaoning Provincial Archives in northeast China on Imperial Japanese Army Unit 731 directly align with Khabarovsk trials testimonies donated by Russia's state archives, making the cross-verified materials irrefutable proof of the unit's brutal wartime crimes.
Inside the Liaoning Provincial Archives, staff retrieved a 1950 file: The first official evidence-gathering record on Unit 731 made after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It was compiled back then by the Northeast Health Ministry, documenting Japan's germ warfare crimes at the Harbin site. This is China's earliest formal effort to catalog the unit's atrocities.
"On March 11, 1950, acting on the Central Ministry of Health's instructions, the Northeast China Health Ministry probed Japan's germ warfare units and gathered relevant materials. Meanwhile, the northeast people's government issued a circular, mandating detailed victim investigations with witness testimonies, material evidence, or photos and documentary records," said Gong Zhuolu, deputy director of Archives Compilation and Industrial Culture Research Department under the Liaoning Provincial Archives.
When Japan surrendered in 1945, Unit 731 fled Harbin in haste. Abandoned germ-carrying rats and fleas spread into residential areas, triggering large-scale plague and outbreaks. The file includes germ warfare evidence: witness testimonies, victim accounts, and local notices to gather proof, cementing the unit's atrocity record.
"These archival materials align with witness testimonies from the Khabarovsk Trials and Shenyang Trials, serving as compelling evidence to confirm Unit 731's germ warfare crimes," Gong said.
These files preserved by the Liaoning Provincial Archives are just the tip of the iceberg. As Jin Chengmin, curator of the Unit 731 Crime Evidence Hall, noted: "The full extent of Unit 731's crimes remains undisclosed. No one knows exactly how many people were subjected to human experiments -- only Japan holds the key to these answers."
Chinese archives' evidence of Unit 731 biological war crimes aligns with Russian Khabarovsk trials records
