The Investigation And Trial Of Japanese War Crimes By The People’s Republic Of China Government In The 1950s

In 1950 s,under the guidance of the central government,Shanxi Province carried out a systematic investigation on the crime evidence of 136 Japanese war criminals held in Taiyuan War Criminals Administration Center.Most of these Japanese war criminals were from the armed Japanese personnel remaining in "Shanxi" captured during the War of Liberation.Later,9 people with serious crimes and high degree of harm were publicly tried.This paper uses the archives collected by The People’s Procuratorate of Shanxi Province and Jinzhong Municipal Archives to discuss how Shanxi investigated the crimes committed by Japanese war criminals in custody in the 1950 s,and on this basis how to try Japanese war criminals according to the instructions of the central government.As an important part of the trial of war criminals in Taiyuan of the People’s Republic of China,the crime investigation has fully implemented the evidence-centered principle upheld by the Communist Party of China.Before the crime investigation began,Shanxi Province formulated investigation plans and methods according to domestic and foreign laws and regulations;After the formal start,the investigators adhere to the principle of "evidence is not credulous",according to the provincial procuratorate issued materials for field investigation and evidence collection.The problems in the investigation and the style of simple task view should be corrected in time to ensure the smooth progress of the investigation.Throughout the investigation process,the investigators,the public and the war criminals received different levels of education.Through newspapers,conferences,investigators and other media,the public aroused their hatred of Japanese imperialism,and began to write a complaint against the atrocities of the Japanese aggressors.In the trial of war criminals because of the Communist Party of China’s rigorous attitude of investigation and evidence gradually eliminate their own concerns,truthfully confessed crimes.In order to make them realize the harm of their own crimes,we should carry out ideological education targeted at them and urge them to confess their crimes.Adhering to the principle of "sentencing only fixed-term imprisonment,not death,sentencing only a minority and releasing the majority," the central government decided to prosecute only those who committed serious crimes or caused high harm,while exempting those whose crimes were not serious or whose evidence was insufficient.The uniqueness of the war criminals tried in Taiyuan is that they committed double crimes,including not only the crimes during the invasion of China,but also the crimes during the "remaining" Shanxi during the Liberation War.Looking back at the Taiyuan war crimes Trial of the People’s Republic of China,it carried out a relatively thorough reckoning of the war crimes of the Japanese army during the period in Shanxi.The treatment of the Japanese war criminals not only reflects the characteristics of the war crimes trial of the People’s Republic of China,which is different from the Tokyo trial and the trial of the Nationalist government,but also reflects the peace-loving and future-oriented bearing and courage of the Chinese people.