Nanjing Woman Detained for Memorials to Japanese War Criminals

Nanjing Police detained a woman accused of memorializing four ranking Japanese military men convicted of war crimes at a temple near the city’s memorial for victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Wu Aping, a 32-year-old former nurse and Buddhist layperson, left memorial tablets to “pacify the spirit of the Japanese criminals.” She told police she had long suffered from nightmares about the Japanese invasion’s atrocities and hoped that the memorials would dispel her bad dreams. Wu was detained for disturbing social order, police said. As Xuanzang Temple is only 800 meters from the memorial, which commemorates the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre during Japan’s invasion of China, netizens accused the woman of being backed by an organization, and called on police for a thorough investigation. Some local government and temple officials were also punished.