A Chinese envoy on Monday called on the international community to jointly prevent Japan from reverting to "the old and pernicious path of militarism."
Sun Lei, charge d'affaires of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, made the appeal at the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the UN Conference of Plenipotentiaries on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity.
Crimes against humanity constitute grave offenses that threaten international peace and security. This charge first appeared in the Charter of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and the Charter of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, embodying the conscience of humankind, he said.
During World War II, Japanese militarism inflicted profound atrocities on the people of China, other Asian nations, and the world. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the work of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East ("Tokyo trials"), he noted.
The Tribunal systematically adjudicated and exposed the crimes of Japanese militarism in planning, preparing for, and invading China and other Asian nations, as well as in launching the Pacific War. It sentenced relevant war criminals for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, he said.
"The Tokyo trials stand as irrefutable historical evidence of Japan's crimes of aggression, pioneered the development of international criminal law, and sounded a clarion call for peace to correct Japan's expansionist policies. The international community should jointly safeguard the victorious outcomes of the Second World War, including the Tokyo trials, uphold the international order based on international law, and prevent Japan from reverting to the old and pernicious path of militarism," he said.
Against the current international situation marked by intertwined changes and turmoil and regional conflicts arising one after another, strengthening the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity is both timely and of great significance, said Sun.
China calls for efforts to prevent Japan from reverting to militarism
At the first anniversary of the Trump administration, multiple global public opinion surveys conducted by CGTN indicate that respondents are highly dissatisfied with the U.S. government's performance in both domestic and foreign affairs, with satisfaction across multiple areas falling sharply over the year. In particular, at the start of the new year, a series of unilateral and bullying actions by the United States have severely damaged its national image and posed a serious threat to world peace and stability.
On January 17, CGTN launched a global public opinion survey targeting internet users. The survey was published on CGTN's platforms in five languages, and within 24 hours, a total of 16,990 respondents participated and shared their views. The survey shows that 84 percent of respondents are highly dissatisfied with the current U.S. administration. Among them, 86.2 percent condemned the "America First" foreign policy, 89.6 percent expressed belief that the U.S. has performed poorly in international affairs over the past year, and 88.8 percent of respondents concurred that under the current U.S. administration, partisan divisions are more pronounced and society is more divided.
Regarding the relationship between the U.S. government and their own countries, 83.9 percent of respondents registered a pessimistic view. Additionally, 90.1 percent are negative about the U.S.' relations with its traditional allies, 91.3 percent believe that the U.S.' national reputation has noticeably declined over the past year, and 91.1 percent expressed a severe lack of confidence in the current administration's future performance.
"Dissatisfaction" has become the key term for the international community's assessment of the current U.S. administration, and its poor performance has severely damaged the country's image. In a CGTN survey on the U.S. national image conducted among 15,688 respondents across 38 countries, "irresponsible major power" and "the world's biggest source of chaos" emerged as the most prominent impressions of the United States.
In the 2025 survey, 71.4 percent of respondents expressed belief that the United States never considers other countries' interests when formulating foreign policy, an increase of 8.5 percentage points over the past year. Additionally, 81.4 percent of respondents criticized the United States for using tariffs to forcibly interfere in other countries' internal affairs, an increase of 5.7 percentage points over the past year.
At the start of the new year, a series of unilateral and bullying actions by the United States in Venezuela, Iran, Greenland and other regions once again exposed its reliance on power and its authoritarian approach to international affairs, severely violating international law and norms of international relations and challenging the existing international order. In the 2025 survey, 64.7 percent of respondents considered the United States to be the most warlike country in world history; 63.8 percent noted that the U.S. has seriously undermined the current international order, up 9.7 percentage points from the previous year; 63.3 percent criticized the U.S. for provoking geopolitical conflicts worldwide, an increase of 4.7 percentage points; and 63.4 percent felt that U.S. policies have seriously threatened world peace, up 10.3 percentage points from the previous year.
This survey was conducted by CGTN in collaboration with Renmin University of China, through the Institute for New Era International Communication, targeting respondents worldwide. The countries surveyed include major developed nations as well as key Global South countries. All respondents were ordinary adults aged 18 and above, and the sample was representative of each country's population in terms of age and gender distribution.
Global dissatisfaction with Trump administration's first year hits 84 pct: CGTN poll
