War criminal tablets furor caution for temples

The abbot of Xuanzang Temple in Nanjing, capital of East China’s Jiangsu province, was dismissed and several religious officials were punished following public outrage over the news that memorial tablets of five Japanese war criminals were found in the temple, Nanjing authorities announced on Friday.

Now the authorities are investigating who “Wu Aping” is. That is the name the person registered in the temple while paying for the memorial tablets of Japanese war criminals, who directly commanded the Nanjing Massacre from late 1937 to early 1938. At least 300,000 civilians were killed by the Imperial Japanese Army over six weeks, which was one of the worst atrocities of World War II, but it is denied by Japan even now.

According to the Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs, those who publicize and beautify wars and acts of aggression disturb public order and are committing acts that violate public security.

The incident is a legal issue that Japanese war criminals are openly honored in China, particularly in Nanjing. The people funding this and the people giving a green light to it are all suspected of violating the law.

The five Japanese war criminals’ memorial tablets have been among other memorial tablets in the temple since 2018. Were they not spotted by a visitor who immediately posted his discovery on social media, the memorial tablets of the war criminals would continue to be housed in the temple until the end of this year according to the contract between the temple and “Wu”. Locals told the media that to keep each memorial tablet in the shrine of that temple for one year costs about 20,000 yuan ($2,962) to 40,000 yuan.

It is hard to believe that the abbot of the temple, who is himself a resident of Nanjing, does not know about the atrocities Japan committed in the city, not least because memorial activities are held every year in the city and rest of the country. But it is probable that he does not know that the names on the memorial tablets belong to five Japanese war criminals, and he had not bothered to check them before nodding to the temple pocketing the money from “Wu” and placing the memorial tablets in the shrine.

The incident has exposed the loopholes in the management of the temple, if not others, that must be addressed in time. And now is the time to find out who “Wu” is.