WWII photo exhibition in Tokyo uncovers Japanese military's atrocities against Chinese civilians

Organizers hope an exhibition of historical photographs documenting Japanese imperialism and depicting horrific scenes from the 1937 Battle of Shanghai will help the Japanese citizens to understand the atrocities committed by their military in China during World War II.

This exhibition, "Echoes of China," on display in downtown Tokyo is a story not often told in Japan, showing the full brutality of Japanese military aggression during its invasion of China.

The display is being held by three men who have striven to make this history public, after one of them, Frenchman Marcus Detrez, made an unsettling discovery in his grandparents' home in 2021.

He said he never knew his grandfather witnessed the brutality, and was shocked at what he saw.

"I found a box. I had seen the box many times but I never dared opening it. Actually I opened it and I found the horrible pictures. The first one was the man with the exploded head. That's the first one I encountered. Extremely shocking," said Detrez.

The discovery led to the formation of a three-person team which wants to share these lessons from history.

In August, they donated the newly found photos to China at its French embassy.

"Echoes of China" held their first Tokyo exhibition in October. And this time, they are displaying some explicit photos for the first time.

"For this exhibition, we'd like to display a bit more cruel and hard pictures so that the people can understand what really happened in China in that time. It's not like to try to take hatred towards Japanese people. It's more like we have to face our history to make a better future," said Bastien Ratat, another co-founder.

Their efforts have stirred controversy in both France and Japan. While online backlash accusing the images of being fake, Detrez even lost his job in France. But the team are undeterred, saying the images are evidence.

"My [our] people was be [were] killed. And when we prepared this exhibition, it's so complicated. In my heart, I feel so sad but I cannot hate the Japanese people. We just want to show that we can't let it happen again," said Zhong Haosong, another co-founder.

The team say they believe the images will be safer in China and help it to convince more people about the truth. They intend to evolve "Echoes of China" into "Echoes of the World" as they continue their efforts to bring historical injustices to light.

WWII photo exhibition in Tokyo uncovers Japanese military's atrocities against Chinese civilians

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the key priorities of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which opened on Friday in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.

In an interview with CGTN ahead of the two-day meeting, Wang said free trade, digital cooperation and green economy are high on the agenda of the meeting.

"The key areas include advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) in strengthening digital cooperation and developing green economy. At present, the international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and chaos, with intensified geopolitical instability. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses serious challenges to the international economic and trade order, disrupting global and Asia-Pacific development. Against this backdrop, all parties have higher expectations for this trade ministers' meeting, hoping that it can build consensus and deliver outcomes," Wang said.

This year marks China's third time hosting the APEC meetings and the 35th anniversary of its membership.

By 2025, China had become the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies. Trade between China and APEC economies reached 3.7 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.

China has signed 24 free trade agreements or economic and trade arrangements with 31 countries and regions, including 15 APEC economies. In recent years, China has also completed upgrades of free trade agreements with APEC economies such as Singapore and Peru.

The minister said that China has always been a firm supporter and an important contributor to APEC.

"We have actively shared our vast market and development opportunities with all parties. China's door to the world will only open wider and wider. Facing the common challenges, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, further deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world with its new achievements in Chinese modernization," the minister said.

China's Commerce Minister outlines priorities for 32nd APEC trade ministers' meeting