Watch now to learn about Wang Xuan A Woman Working Tirelessly to Seek Justice for Victims of Unit 731
Born in 1952 in Shanghai, China, Wang Xuan graduated from a university in China and worked as an English teacher for over ten years. In 1993 she received a Master's Degree in Education with distinction from the University of Tsukuba in Japan. In 1995, she discovered by chance what would turn out to be the cause to which she would dedicate her life's work. From a news article in an English newspaper about the First International Symposium on Unit 731 held in Harbin, China, she learned that Japanese peace activists had been reported going to Chongshan Village, Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China, to investigate the plague epidemic caused by Unit 731's bacterial warfare in World War II (WWll). This cause had been special in Wang Xuan's heart as her family was from Zhejiang. During WWII, Zhejiang was of strategic importance, as several airfields in the area were used as Allied bases. The Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway also was viewed as an important supply line. The Imperial Japanese Army then launched strategic attacks on the railway from May to September of 1942. This was also directed at the allies in retaliation for the "Doolittle" air raids on Tokyo by the U.S. bombers. Due to the number of ground troops in the area, the Japanese Imperial Army considered it considerably more cost-effective to use biological weapons than any other method.