Correspondent: Unit 731 Tx Date: 3rd February 2002 This script was made from audio tape – any inaccuracies are due to voices being unclear or inaudible 00.00.00 Wang Xuan speaking to crowd 00.00.03 Anita McNaught A fight for justice has begun. 00.00.05 Crowd shouting 00.00.08 Anita McNaught In World War Two, in north-eastern China, the Japanese army built the world's largest biological weapons research complex. They developed, tested and delivered weapons of mass destruction. 00.00.23 Wang Xuan Unit 731 was a killing machine. It did the most horrific experiments on human beings. 00.00.31 Anita McNaught Prisoners of war were deliberately infected and cut open while still alive. 00.00.37 Anita McNaught Plague, Cholera, Anthrax were spread all over China. 00.00.46 Anita McNaught Hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians died. At the end of the war the men who did this were never punished. 00.00.55 Wang Xuan How can you just let them go? 00.00.59 Anita McNaught Now, the victims want justice. 00.01.01 Crowd shouting 00.01.02 Correspondent Theme Music 00.01.12 Title Page UNIT 731 00.01.20 Anita McNaught Chong Shan village in Zhejiang Province, Southern China. 00.01.27 Anita McNaught Wang Xuan returns regularly to her ancestral home. 00.01.35 Anita McNaught She received a privileged education in Shanghai but never forgot her roots. When she learned the full horror of how her village suffered in the war, she took up their cause. 00.01.47 Anita McNaught Life under the Japanese occupation was fearful enough. 00.01.52 Anita McNaught But in 1942 Japanese planes flew low over the village and people started falling sick. 00.02.00 Wang Xuan You know people was panicked because in, the village had a history of more than six hundred years and they never had the disease before. They thought it was a curse from God. 00.02.14 Music 00.02.18 Anita McNaught Right across Southern China in the early 1940s, fleas rained down from Japanese planes. Hundreds of thousands of people succumbed to a mysterious illness. 00.02.30 Anita McNaught No medicine worked. They tried to quarantine the sick on boats. It was Bubonic Plague. 00.02.37 Music 00.02.44 Anita McNaught Hundreds of thousands died, including Wang's uncle. One third of Wang's village were killed. 00.02.51 Anita McNaught So many died, their bodies were abandoned in the fields. 00.02.59 Anita McNaught There've been reports of sporadic outbreaks of the Plague since but official confirmation in China is hard to come by. 00.03.07 Anita McNaught What the Chinese government will show us is the twice yearly visits to Quzhou of inspectors from the Regional Epidemic Control Centre to trap rats. 00.03.18 Anita McNaught The rats provide an early warning system. 00.03.30 Anita McNaught Their fur's checked for the type of flea which carries the Plague. 00.03.35 Anita McNaught The rats themselves for antibodies and signs of infection. The signs are still there. These regular checks still happen all over China. 00.03.50 Aston QUI MINGXUAN Epidemiologist, Zhejiang Province Voice over Because of the biological warfare perpetrated by the Japanese, Quzhou has become a reservoir of the Plague. So the disease cannot be eradicated in a short time. If we become lax in our prevention work the Plague could come back. 00.04.12 Anita McNaught This is Shiro Ishii, the man behind the weapons of mass destruction, a brilliant army medical officer. With the blessing of the Emperor, he brought a team of young scientists to Ping Fang, in Japanese occupied China, where he set up Unit 731. 00.04.30 Music 00.04.42 Anita McNaught They told the locals it was a lumber yard. But the freight on the trains was not timber; it was prisoners of war. The Japanese called them 'logs'. They were Chinese, Koreans and Russians. 00.04.55 Music 00.04.58 Anita McNaught They said Unit 731 was a water purification unit. It wasn't. It was a secret research and production operation for germ warfare. 00.05.09 Anita McNaught In the massive new complex, Japanese scientists bred fearful families of disease – Anthrax, Typhus, Cholera, the Plague. 00.05.18 Music 00.05.20 Anita McNaught They used prisoners of war to grow the germs and cut them open while still alive to study the effects. 00.05.27 Music 00.05.29 Anita McNaught No one got out alive. 00.05.30 Music 00.05.38 Anita McNaught From 1940 the pathogens bred at Ping Fang were sent south. There, a special division of troops trained at Unit 731 spread the diseases by road, rail and air. 00.06.04 Anita McNaught The pain of events of sixty years ago is still raw for Wu Shi-Gen. 00.06.11 Anita McNaught After the Japanese planes flew over Quzhou, his nine year old brother fell sick. It was the Plague. There was nothing Wu or his parents could do. 00.06.25 Wu Shi-Gen Voice over His glands were all swollen. His face turned purple. His pain was unbearable and he cried and screamed. His fingers were raw from tearing at himself. 00.06.39 Anita McNaught Their only hope to save the rest of the family from falling sick too was to hide Wu's brother away. 00.06.47 Anita McNaught The nine year old boy was locked in a storeroom at the far end of the house. No one was allowed to go near him. 00.07.00 Wu Shi-Gen Voice over He was screaming in that room. I begged my parents to let me run in to comfort him but they held me back. When he died the three of us clung to each other and cried. The sadness we felt was beyond words. 00.07.36 Anita McNaught Wu still doesn't know where his brother was buried. He can only pay his respects at the place he died. 00.07.46 News Report Suddenly the news flies over the field MacArthur is coming. GIs spring for ringside seats. Here is an epic moment of history. 00.07.53 Anita McNaught The Japanese surrender in 1945 and the arrival of the Americans under General MacArthur should have meant an end to the horrors of the war. 00.08.02 Music 00.08.04 News Report In Tokyo the trial of the principal Japanese war criminals… 00.08.06 Anita McNaught But while the Tokyo war crimes trials indicted many generals, not a single Unit 731 scientists was prosecuted for the hundreds of thousands who died throughout China. 00.08.18 Anita McNaught Behind the scenes a deal was done. Immunity from prosecution in exchange for biological weapons data. 00.08.29 Wang Xuan By whatever morals and ethics, what they did in China, I mean the biological warfare, human experimentations and using of biological weapons are serious crimes against humanity. The crime deserves to be punished. How can you just let them go? 00.08.57 Anita McNaught This is why. Thousands of pages of data, drawings and observations of the effects of Anthrax, Plague, Glanders and the rest, all obtained from prisoners of war who were vivisected, cut open while still alive. 00.09.15 Anita McNaught No other nation had ever taken biological weapons research so far. To the American military, it was irresistible. And with the Cold War beginning, America didn't want the Russians to get their hands on it. 00.09.31 Aston NORM COVERT Historian, US Biological Warfare Program The Camp Detrick team certainly wanted to know what's going on in Japan, what has General Ishii done, he's been working on it longer than us. And he certainly had, from what we're finding out in these drips and drabs of information, that he was working in an actual situation where he really delivered weapons systems. He worked on humans. Quite a curiosity because we can only work with animals. 00.09.53 Wang Xuan Subtitles Can we ever forget the victims? Can we ever forget our beloved family members? 00.10.00 Crowd Subtitle Never! 00.10.02 Wang Xuan Subtitle Do you have confidence in our lawsuit? 00.10.05 Crowd Subtitle Yes! 00.10.08 Anita McNaught The search for justice has turned Wang into a campaigner. The campaign has turned her into a hero. 00.10.17 Anita McNaught Wang and her village are taking the Japanese government to court. The Chinese government has been silent on the issue, not blocking the movement but not helping either. It fears damage to its relations with Japan. 00.10.33 Crowd Subtitle No justice, no peace! 00.10.35 Wang Xuan Subtitles The Japanese government must admit biological warfare! 00.10.39 Crowd Subtitle Admit biological warfare! 00.10.43 Wang Xuan Subtitles The Japanese government must apologise and compensate the victims. 00.10.46 Crowd Subtitle Apologise and compensate! 00.10.50 Wang Xuan Japan should compensate. I know that we cannot get those who perished in the war, to get their lives back. But Japan should take the responsibility and show sincerity, show their repentance. 00.11.19 Anita McNaught In her campaign to confront the Japanese government, Wang travelled to Quzhou to find Wu Shi-Gen. He lost first his brother and then his two year old sister to the Plague. 00.11.30 Anita McNaught There are plenty of records from the time and newspaper articles. But Wang needed witnesses for her court case and spent many hours trying to persuade Wu. 00.11.42 Wang Xuan Voice over We need a victim to go and testify. Old Yang said you were the right man. What do you think? 00.11.52 Wu Shi-Gen Voice over I fear I'm not up to the job because I'd have to represent all the victims of Zhejiang Province. I have very little education and I can't express myself well. 00.12.07 Anita McNaught In China, suing a national government is a new and dangerous idea, initially Wu was uneasy. 00.12.20 Anita McNaught Wang's travelling throughout China collecting evidence of other diseases that were unleashed, like Dysentery and Typhoid, which were slipped into wells. Like Cholera, injected into rice cakes and handed out to starving children. 00.12.38 Anita McNaught Conservative estimates now say that biological warfare killed at least a quarter of a million Chinese. 00.12.46 Anita McNaught Wang's come to Ya Fan village in Zhejiang because she's heard of a mysterious illness called 'rotten leg disease'. 00.12.58 Anita McNaught Some people have been suffering from it since the war. Chinese researchers have found similar chronic infections in more than seventy villages so far. 00.13.11 Anita McNaught It's left them with gaping wounds that won't heal. 00.13.21 Wang Xuan Voice over I've come to investigate the biological warfare because victims like you are already very elderly. 00.13.32 Man Voice over My disease has been there for sixty years. I have to change my dressing every day. No one knows my pain. 00.13.47 Anita McNaught It started like an insect bite, then swelling and unbearable pain. Then his flesh started to rot away. 00.13.59 Anita McNaught Many died of it. Experts say it's probably Glanders, another of Unit 731's special recipes. Treatments were ineffectual and cost a fortune. 00.14.15 Man Voice over Twenty injections cost two thousand kilos of rice. I lost everything; I had to sell my land and my house. My mother's foot was rotten as well. We couldn't afford medicine for both. She died five months later. 00.14.42 Anita McNaught Lunch at Wu Shi-Gen's home in Quzhou. 00.14.49 Anita McNaught In the end, Wu decided he wanted to testify. But he needed his family to pay his fare to get to the court in Tokyo. 00.15.00 Anita McNaught There were regular debates about whether one old man really could make a difference. 00.15.09 Wu Shi Gen Subtitles You can speak your minds. Tell me what you really think. My family is democratic. 00.15.16 Daughter Subtitles Money is not a problem. But are you achieving anything? Are you? 00.15.28 Wu Shi-Gen Subtitles It's not whether we achieve anything or not. It's about giving a voice to the victims in our family. 00.15.46 Daughter Subtitles How many people in Quzhou know your story? How many people in Quzhou really care? 00.15.55 Wu Shi-Gen Subtitle History still matters. 00.15.59 Daughter Subtitle Why are only a couple of old guys fighting? Wu Shi-Gen Subtitle We have to educate people. 00.16.03 Daughter Subtitle You have a marathon to run there! 00.16.05 Wu Shi-Gen Subtitles Talking about past miseries to young people is like playing the violin to a cow. 00.16.17 Music 00.16.21 Anita McNaught In this struggle for justice, the Chinese have some surprising allies. Japanese lawyers and scholars have come to help fight the case in the Tokyo court. These old people may be deeply suspicious but they've turned up to meet the Japanese team. 00.16.38 Anita McNaught The team is here to help heal the wounds of the past. 00.16.45 Anita McNaught They are the only Japanese who've ever come to listen to these people's stories. 00.16.56 Aston ICHINOSE KEIICHIRO Japanese Legal Team Voice over In this case the victims are Chinese and the offenders, including myself, are Japanese, so the most difficult aspect of our client lawyer relationship is whether our clients have enough confidence in us to represent them. Can they really trust us to fight the Japanese government on their behalf? It's not an easy task. 00.17.25 Anita McNaught Even though the Japanese team aren't asking for payment, it takes time to overcome the legacy of years of fear and hatred. 00.17.37 Music 00.17.38 Anita McNaught Finally, one hundred and eighty Chinese join the lawsuit. 00.17.42 Music 00.17.59 Anita McNaught Ishii Shiro was no fool. 00.18.01 Music 00.18.04 Anita McNaught He knew his biological weapons programme was a liability. Before Japan surrendered, he ordered Ping Fang be destroyed, the evidence of experiments on thousands of prisoners eradicated. 00.18.17 Music 00.18.21 Anita McNaught More than four hundred prisoners were still inside. They were slaughtered. The infected rats were set free. 00.18.29 Music 00.18.31 Anita McNaught The ensuing epidemics killed thirty thousand local Chinese. 00.18.38 Anita McNaught Ishii made his staff swear never to talk about their work. Then he bartered their freedom with Unit 731's data. 00.18.46 Music 00.18.48 Anita McNaught These were elite scientists. After the war their careers flourished. 00.18.55 Music Graphic Kobayashi Rokuzo President National Epidemic Prevention Institute Graphic Nakaguro Hidetoshi President Defence Forces Medical School Graphic Naito Ryoichi President Green Cross Graphic Kitano Masaji Chief Executive Green Cross Graphic Kasuga Chuichi President Trio-Kenwood Graphic Yoshimura Hisato President Kyoto Municipal Medical University Graphic Yamanaka Motoki President Osaka Municipal Medical University Graphic Okamato Kozo Dean Kyoto University Medical Services Graphic Tanaka Hideo Dean Osaka Municipal University Medical 00.19.27 Anita McNaught Wang Xuan is not prepared to let the veterans of Unit 731 rest in peace. 00.19.41 Anita McNaught Japan is officially in denial about its wartime history. None of Unit 731's senior scientists and soldiers have ever spoken publicly. 00.19.55 Anita McNaught Many of them have died but for years Wang's been trying to track down the survivors. 00.20.04 Anita McNaught These are not easy visits to make. Wang is not welcome. 00.20.16 Anita McNaught She's often abused. 00.20.18 Anita McNaught One widow even threatened to call the police. 00.20.30 Wang Xuan I was shaking all over. She was very rude to me. But I tried not to hate the Japanese people. I never want to hate anybody. I just want to have a dialogue with her. But she, I didn't know, I didn't, I really didn't understand why they have those hostility towards the Chinese people. 00.20.07 Music 00.20.12 Anita McNaught Ishii Shiro, the mastermind behind Unit 731, is buried in a Tokyo suburb. He died at home, aged fifty-nine. 00.20.21 Music 00.21.26 Wang Xuan Subtitles Ishii Shiro! Your crimes of biological warfare will be tried in court! These acts are not permitted in a civilised society! For the peace and progress of humanity… we are determined to see that justice is done. I promise you that, here and now. 00.21.55 Music 00.22.06 Anita McNaught Not all Japanese are in denial. Yoshio Shinozuka not only worked at Unit 731, he's one of the few prepared to discuss it in public. 00.22.17 Anita McNaught Today he's come to talk to a history class at a high school. This sort of first hand account for students is highly unusual. 00.22.32 Applause 00.22.38 Yoshio Shinozuka Voice over Hello, my name is Shinozuka; I'm seventy-eight years old. 00.22.44 Anita McNaught Few schools would allow an old soldier to talk so frankly. 00.22.53 Yoshio Shinozuka Voice over I read in today's newspaper that someone got Anthrax in New York. In our unit too Anthrax was mass-produced. I did it myself. We put the germs through the human body. By extracting the germs from the person just before we killed him, we were able to create more powerful germs. 00.23.27 Anita McNaught Linked together on the blackboard; Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Unit 731. 00.23.34 Anita McNaught This is not the standard curriculum. Unit 731 hardly figures in the school textbooks. 00.23.41 Anita McNaught Japan's teaching of modern history is highly selective – portraying Japanese as victims, not aggressors. 00.23.48 Applause 00.24.04 Anita McNaught Yoshio Shinozuka says Japan must come to terms with its past. He's haunted by memories of 731; by the first human vivisections he participated in, aged fifteen. 00.24.25 Yoshio Shinozuka Voice over I was ordered to wash this person's body with water from a hose and a hard floor brush. I poured water over his body and washed it with the hard brush as I was told. But when it came to washing his face with the hard brush, I hesitated. I asked what I should do but I was told to get on with it. I closed my eyes and scrubbed his face with the hard brush. The first time my legs were like jelly and my whole body was shaking, I couldn't move. 00.25.17 Yoshio Shinozuka Voice over But as I participated the second and third time I wasn't shaking much anymore. It was as if I'd got used to killing people. Then my section chief said; 'hey, you are finally growing up'. 00.25.50 Anita McNaught He's decided to join the lawsuit and testify on behalf of the Chinese victims. It's a courageous decision. 00.26.03 Yoshio Shinozuka Voice over I really find it hard to talk about this. I try to suppress that feeling because I believe that testifying about the Unit and telling everyone the truth about it is in itself a way of apologising. 00.26.35 Anita McNaught There are many who would rather the whole truth was never told. We've come to the Japanese city of Kobe, to the office of Toshimi Mizobuchi. 00.26.43 Anita McNaught Anita McNaught from the BBC. My translator Mai… 00.26.54 Anita McNaught May we come in? 00.26.56 Anita McNaught We'd heard that unlike Unit 731 scientists, he's prepared to speak openly. 00.27.04 Anita McNaught ...we've come to talk to you about Unit 731. 00.27.10 Anita McNaught This was the man in charge of destroying the evidence of Unit 731, of burning down the complex and killing the four hundred prisoners. 00.27.25 Anita McNaught He organises the annual staff reunion party. He showed us a photo of last year's event. 00.27.38 Anita McNaught Prisoners were killed in the course of the research at Unit 731. 00.27.45 Toshimi Mizobuchi Voice over This is our Unit's top secret; it's always been very closely guarded. 00.27.56 Anita McNaught At first he regaled us with tales of the Unit's great achievements. It was a water purification unit, a hygiene bureau, a medical college. 00.28.08 Anita McNaught He finally owned up, three hours later. 00.28.13 Anita McNaught Yes, its main purpose was germ warfare and prisoners, the logs, were used in experiments but then they were all spies. 00.28.27 Toshimi Mizobuchi Voice over Our Unit, Unit 731, was ordered to carry out executions. So, since we had to execute the logs anyway, we believed that it was, in fact, an honourable act on our part to give them the opportunity to offer their bodies, to contribute to the development of the human race. 00.29.00 Anita McNaught Was there ever a time when you thought the work you were doing at 731 was wrong, was inhumane? 00.29.13 Toshimi Mizobuchi Voice over No. 00.29.17 Anita McNaught Demands for a public apology and compensation have hit Tokyo's streets. 00.29.21 Protestors 00.29.27 Anita McNaught Wang and other Unit 731 campaigners are marching together with the Movement for Justice for the Korean Comfort Women. 00.29.35 Protestors 00.29.41 Anita McNaught The Comfort Women were the women kept in sexual slavery by the Japanese army. 00.29.49 Anita McNaught The protestors have managed to arrange a meeting with government officials. 00.29.56 Anita McNaught But the government won't speak to us. 00.30.02 Anita McNaught They say there's not enough evidence to prove what happened at Unit 731. 00.30.14 Anita McNaught There is in fact a truckload of evidence. 00.30.18 Anita McNaught We took just a fraction of it with us, to meet one of the few figures in the Japanese establishment prepared to discuss the issue. 00.30.28 Anita McNaught The man we're going to see is a leading academic. He contributed to a best selling history of modern Japan, which does not mention Unit 731. He plays a crucial role in what's taught in Japan's schools. 00.30.47 Anita McNaught Professor Fujioka? 00.30.48 Professor Fujioka? Yes. 00.30.51 Anita McNaught Anita McNaught. BBC. We've come to talk to you about Japan in World War Two. 00.30.55 Professor Fujioka? Ok. 00.30.57 Anita McNaught Professor Fujioka has spent many years reworking the history of Nanking. 00.31.02 Professor Fujioka Nice to see you. 00.31.03 Anita McNaught You too. 00.31.06 Anita McNaught It's generally accepted at least two hundred thousand Chinese were massacred in Nanking by the Japanese army. 00.31.16 Anita McNaught He has his own version of history and his own set of maps to prove it. He dismisses the records of the time as Chinese propaganda. 00.31.26 Anita McNaught Again, to be clear, the massacre of Nanking, the rape of Nanking, it didn't happen? 00.31.34 Professor Fujioka It didn't happen. 00.31.35 Anita McNaught It didn't happen. And the Korean comfort women; that didn't happen? 00.31.42 Professor Fujioka Comfort women, there were comfort women but they were not forcibly… 00.31.52 Anita McNaught Not forcibly made to do, you say? 00.31.57 Professor Fujioka I think so. 00.31.58 Anita McNaught Tell me this, in your book, in the book that you contributed to, there is no mention of Unit 731 or the biological weapons programme of the Japanese government. Why? 00.32.10 Professor Fujioka Never. Never. Because it has not recorded and almost all records were carried to the United States after the war. 00.32.23 Anita McNaught You say there are no records of Unit 731? 00.32.28 Professor Fujioka Umm, ah, no records available for study. 00.32.32 Anita McNaught That's very interesting because you see, we've found without, excuse me, we found without, without too much trouble… 00.32.44 Professor Fujioka So that… 00.32.44 Anita McNaught Yeah. 00.32.45 Professor Fujioka Basically… 00.32.46 Anita McNaught Let me show you; let me show you. We have a book by an American academic. This is translated into Japanese. This is the story of the Unit 731, the biological weapons programme. We have testimonies of Japanese soldiers from Unit 731. We have investigations by Japanese journalists and academics into 731 and interesting the information from Unit 731, you say went to America, it is available in Japan. This is a report on Anthrax, a report of Anthrax from 731. We even have pictures of what they call 'bad leg village'. 00.33.39 Anita McNaught Professor Yoshimi, from your university. Investigations in Chinese. 00.33.45 Professor Fujioka I know that there are many publications. 00.33.45 Anita McNaught We have statements, many, but also statements from plaintiffs in Chinese. We have… 00.33.52 Professor Fujioka But my friend are working into the documents and he suspects the documents itself were made, fabricated, yeah. 00.34.15 Music 00.34.22 Anita McNaught In China, the idea that people could have made up these stories is inconceivable. 00.34.27 Music 00.34.34 Anita McNaught At Wang Xuan's village, they've come to pay their respects to their family members who died sixty years ago. Even the village temple holds terrifying memories. Japanese scientists used it to conduct vivisections on Plague victims. 00.34.49 Music 00.34.55 Anita McNaught This man was orphaned when he was six years old. 00.35.14 Anita McNaught After much reflection, Wu Shi-Gen finally decided he would go to Japan to give evidence at the court case. 00.35.21 Anita McNaught It was because of a promise he'd made fifty years ago. 00.35.32 Wu Shi-Gen Voice over On her death-bed, my mother begged me to remember our suffering. She begged me to avenge my brother, my sister and my father. 00.35.47 Anita McNaught His children paid for his trip. His old friends backed him too. He just needed them to confirm the facts of his testimony; that his father was killed by the Japanese and his brother and sister died of the Plague. The old man had found a new resolve. 00.36.09 Wu Shi-Gen Voice over The time has come; we are going to fight face to face with the Japanese government. Face to face to expose the crimes of the Japanese during their occupation of China. 00.36.27 Anita McNaught In Japan most people remain oblivious to the gruesome history of Unit 731. There's little media coverage of the Chinese court case. It's not surprising people are indifferent. 00.36.39 Anita McNaught Wu's come to Japan with two other plaintiffs. It's the first time he's been outside China. Everything is new. 00.36.51 Anita McNaught Japan, with all its gimmickry, is a strange and intimidating place. 00.36.57 Anita McNaught Wang is their guide and interpreter. 00.37.03 Anita McNaught Their first stop is the office of lawyer Keiichiro Ichinose. 00.37.18 Anita McNaught Official records are patchy. Wu's drawn his own map of Plague casualties in his village. 00.37.26 Anita McNaught And the old men have to rehearse their testimonies. It may be their only chance to set the records straight. 00.37.35 Anita McNaught This is a highly political case in Japan. The judges are under intense scrutiny. The lawyers don't want to leave anything open to interpretation or left unresolved. 00.37.49 Aston ICHINOSE KEIICHIRO Japanese Legal Team Voice over The brutality my parents' generation committed in the name of war has to be addressed and resolved by our generation. We have to listen to the real voices of the Chinese victims confronting us. The reality is hard to accept but we must face it and we must try to understand the weight these voices carry. 00.38.24 Anita McNaught A monument in a graveyard outside Tokyo shows how far they have to go. It's dedicated to the members of Unit 731. 00.38.34 Anita McNaught There's no such memorial to the victims. 00.38.39 Wu Shi-Gen Voice over Even now I don't know where my brother and sister are buried. I know where my father was buried but the tomb has gone and we cannot find his bones. These slaughterers, these killers of our Chinese people, they have such a nice place. 00.39.06 Anita McNaught Wu's anger builds. Later that night, unable to sleep, he prepares a speech to the court. 00.39.17 Wu Shi-Gen Voice over There's a Chinese saying; 'those who dare to act must dare to take responsibility for their actions'. Why have you not taken responsibility for your actions? Do you want history to repeat itself? 00.39.38 Anita McNaught There's so much at stake here. These men say they've come to put to rest the souls of the villagers who died but they're carrying the hopes and expectations of the living too. 00.39.50 Anita McNaught It's a heavy burden. 00.40.00 Wang Xuan Maybe some of the plaintiffs cannot see the result of the lawsuit. But justice will prevail - someday. They will have their rights and dignity back - someday. 00.40.24 Anita McNaught The case has taken five years to prepare. What they want is simple – a full acknowledgement of the germ warfare used against the Chinese, an apology and compensation. 00.40.38 Anita McNaught Wu Shi-Gen's day in court has finally come. 00.40.47 Anita McNaught Yoshio Shinozuka has also come. He's one of only two Unit 731 veterans to give evidence. He's come today to watch Wu Shi-Gen. He feels it his duty to follow every development in the case. 00.41.03 Anita McNaught In court Wu takes the stand. He starts to tell his story; he breaks down. There is utter silence as he struggles to finish his testimony. And then; it's all over. 00.41.21 Wu Shi-Gen Voice over For sixty years a stone has been weighing on my heart. Now it's fallen away. My steps are lighter. I am glad, joyful because finally I have given a voice to the victims. 00.41.43 Music 00.41.50 Anita McNaught There's one more bit of unfinished business. 00.41.52 Music 00.41.57 Anita McNaught Yoshio Shinozuka has requested a meeting with the Chinese plaintiffs. 00.42.01 Music 00.42.16 Yoshio Shinozuka Voice over Thank you for coming all the way from China to Japan. My name is Shinozuka. I used to belong to Unit 731. I was very moved by your testimony yesterday. It made me realise how serious my crimes were. Apologies will never make up for what we did. These were deeds that should not be committed by any human being. 00.43.05 Wu Shi-Gen Voice over You've had the courage to reveal the criminal acts of Unit 731 and to repent for those crimes. All the Chinese people who have heard about that admire you and support you. 00.43.27 Music 00.43.29 Anita McNaught Until the verdict, Wu Shi-Gen and his friends will have to take strength from this – that one guilty man at least has acknowledged the past and apologised. 00.43.39 Music 00.43.42 Anita McNaught For now, it's left to people like Yoshio Shinozuka to carry the conscience of a nation. 00.43.48 End Music 00.43.51 In association with Oriental Arts, China 00.43.55 Voice over For more on tonight's programme please visit our web site at: www.bbc.co.uk/correspondent 00.43.53 Reporter ANITA MCNAUGHT Camera ROBIN PROBIN ZHANG FANG Sound ZHAO DONG HIRO YAMANAKA Dubbing Mixer DAMIAN REYNOLDS VT Editor JASPAL BANGA Graphic Design STEVE ENGLAND Production Team ALEXANDRA CAMERON EMMA CASHMORE SARAH EVA TINA JAGGER ANJANA SHARMA Production Manager JANE WILLEY Unit Manager IRENE OZGA Film Research NICK DODD Associate Producers KONDO SHOJI GUOGUO LINGMEI Picture Editor PHILIP CLEMO Series Producer SIMON FINCH Produced & Directed by GISELLE PORTENIER Deputy Editor FARAH DURRANI 00.44.05 Voice over In a fortnight's time - the Dirty War in Israel – a two part special with unique access to both sides. We reveal the military tactics of the Palestinian street fighters and the hi-tech Israeli hit squads. 00.44.19 Editor FIONA MURCH BBC © BBC MMII 00.44.24 End BBC Correspondent 1 22