Making Peace Eternal Rather Than Accidental

Author: Chunhua Yu

Date: January 14, 2026

Today, the Arms Control Institution reported that 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The blasts, heat, and radiation from these two nuclear attacks caused approximately 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945. As of August 2025, the registered victims of the bombings have exceeded 540,000, including those who later died from the long-term effects of radiation. The new generation of Japanese youth would remember history and ensure that the tragedies of nuclear war never repeat in any country.

In China, and across Asia, young people are urged to remember history and never forget the disasters and humiliations inflicted on their nations by Japanese invaders. This historical pain is poignantly expressed in a popular anti-Japanese song:

“I am a civilian of Nanjing in 1937, and a soul unjustly killed by Mukai Toshiharu’s sword. I am a father who protected my child with my life, and yet I was crushed to dust by the enemy’s tanks. I am a hardworking and humble farmer in the fields, and also the bacteria on the iron bed of Unit 731. I am the warmth shared under candlelight, and also the youth of comfort women trampled in shame…”

The song references the 1937 Nanjing Massacre—during the Japanese invasion of China, when Japanese troops captured Nanjing in December, over approximately six weeks they committed systematic atrocities against large numbers of civilians and prisoners of war, including mass killings, sexual violence, arson, and looting, causing an enormous humanitarian disaster. Scholars generally estimate the number of victims at around 300,000. The Nanjing Massacre is not only one of the deepest wounds in modern Chinese history but also one of the most serious war crimes of World War II, reminding the world to remember history, oppose war, and cherish peace.

The song also mentions Japan’s Unit 731, a secret biological and chemical warfare research unit established during the invasion of China. Under the pretext of “epidemic prevention” and “medical research,” it carried out large-scale, inhumane experiments on Chinese civilians and prisoners in Northeast China and tested biological weapons in combat, causing severe casualties and long-term public health disasters. The research of Unit 731 gravely violated medical ethics and international law and remains one of the most atrocious biological warfare and crimes against humanity in World War II, leaving deep and painful scars on Chinese society and human civilization.

As I have said, if our eyes see only nails, we become hammers. If we try to end war through war, we may never escape the destruction of war. The Japanese Empire waged wars against neighboring countries, bringing death and devastation, only to ultimately face the destructive power of America’s atomic bombs.

Today, the war in Ukraine has brought the world once again to the brink of extinction. Across global confrontations, nuclear weapons could instantly destroy large parts of the world. Chemical weapons could collapse civilization immediately, causing the total annihilation of humanity, species, and more in catastrophic ways. Biological weapons have already severely threatened global security by targeting states and individuals. We must seize this turning point to save lives and pursue security. We must end the old order of ensuring absolute security through military strikes and expansion, and instead embrace a new international security order that resolves disputes without resorting to military means.

I am continuously committed to starting with a comprehensive solution to the Ukraine crisis, turning it into a pivotal opportunity to establish an absolute security system spanning Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region. This system could later expand to the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. We should create a truly safe world—one without nuclear, conventional, chemical, biological, medical, space, or sovereign wars.

I am willing to continue supporting efforts by Russia, the United States, and China to reduce nuclear weapons, preparing for the establishment of a nuclear-free world in the future. I firmly believe that as long as we remember history, face its painful lessons, and replace force with wisdom, we can lead humanity toward true security and lasting peace.

This is our mission, and our shared hope. Let us stand at this historical crossroads, and with courage and wisdom, pull the world from the shadows of war back onto the path of hope and life, making peace eternal rather than accidental.