Disagreement over 'Nanjing Massacre', Japan stops funding UNESCO

(Baonghean.vn) - On October 14, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said that the country has decided to withdraw its 2016 funding from UNESCO, after the organization included the Nanjing massacre in its program to preserve human historical memory.

2014 Nanjing Massacre Memorial Ceremony. Photo: Reuters

The Japanese foreign minister did not give a reason, but yesterday (October 13), Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stated that UNESCO's decision was problematic because Japan and China's views were still conflicting, and he threatened that Japan could withdraw funding.

Regarding the Nanjing Massacre in 1937, China claimed that the Japanese army killed 300,000 people. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East later put the death toll at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese politicians and scholars have completely denied any information related to the massacre.

UNESCO began its Memory of the World program in 1992 to preserve important documents and evidence of human history. Last year, Japan expressed concern about UNESCO accepting documents and evidence from Chinese organizations without ensuring fairness and transparency.

According to the plan, Japan must contribute about 3.85 billion yen (37 million USD) to UNESCO in 2016, accounting for about 9.7% of the organization's total budget.

Phuong Thao

(According to Reuters)