Editor's note: Meng Dong is an observer of international affairs. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

From December 1941 to August 1945, Japanese forces occupied the entire territories of present-day Malaysia and Singapore, subjecting the region to three years and eight months of brutal colonial rule.

The atrocities committed by the Japanese military – including massacres, sexual violence, bacteriological warfare, and economic plunder – are backed by ironclad evidence. These crimes against humanity remain an indelible stain on the annals of human civilization.

Heinous forced labor and 'comfort women' crimes

To construct the Thailand-Burma Railway – the infamous "Death Railway" – the Japanese military conscripted hundreds of thousands of Malayan laborers and compressed a construction timeline originally estimated at six years into just 17 months. These laborers were forced to work 18 hours a day, surviving on little more than stinking dried fish. Any sign of exhaustion was met with brutal beatings, while disease, hunger, and torture took a relentless toll.

Along the 415-kilometer route, an average of 360 lives were lost per kilometer – one death for every three meters of track. This horror was encapsulated in the haunting phrase: "one sleeper, one life."

The Japanese military established a network of "comfort stations" across Malaya, forcing countless women into sexual slavery. The victims were predominantly ethnic Chinese, but also included Malay and Indian women, many of whom were underage girls. Buildings that appear ordinary today – the Royal Selangor Club at Kuala Lumpur's Merdeka Square, the Dato' Jaafar Building in Johor, and the Seng Cheong Society in Malacca – were once sites of unspeakable suffering under Japanese occupation. These women endured inhuman treatment day in and day out, suffering devastating physical and psychological trauma. Some chose death over further humiliation, while those who survived bore scars that time could never heal.

The Japanese military also perpetrated massacres against ethnic Chinese in Malaya at locations including Kota Tinggi in Johor and Chung Ling High School in Penang in Malacca. According to testimony from British Colonel Cyril Hew Dalrymple Wild during the Tokyo Trials, over 150,000 ethnic Chinese were slaughtered by Japanese forces across Malaya.

Bacteriological warfare: The rat and flea farms of Malaya

Unit Oka 9420 (Unit 9420) – a so-called "disease research" unit of the Imperial Japanese Army – conducted secret bacteriological warfare operations in Malaya, turning the region into a gruesome laboratory for human experimentation.

Founded in China in 1942, the unit set up its headquarters in Singapore and operated branches across Southeast Asia and the Pacific. At the Tampoi Mental Hospital in Johor Bahru, the unit infected rats with plague bacteria, then used the rats to mass-produce disease-carrying fleas as biological weapons.

Takehana Kyoichi detailed his work at the hospital from the time he joined the unit until Japan's defeat in his self-published book, "The Story of Fleas, Rats and Plague Bacteria as I Saw Them." He recalled that the unit destroyed large amounts of documents upon Japan's surrender, obscuring the full extent of its crimes.

The Japanese military also operated another breeding facility at the Tuanku Muhammad School in the town of Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan. According to former member Daikai Yoshiaki, upon Japan's surrender, hundreds of cages of pathogen-carrying rats were dumped into the upper reaches of a nearby river to conceal the evidence, posing enduring health risks to local residents.

Economic plunder: Livelihoods destroyed

Japan treated Malaya as nothing more than a supply base for its war machine.

It seized British plantations, appropriated Chinese-owned factories, and took control of the region's tin and rubber industries. Oil from Sarawak, grain, livestock, and timber – everything of value was commandeered. Local businesses and industries were stifled under Japanese monopolies. By the end of the occupation, Malaya's economy had been gutted – and the people who depended on it were reduced to destitution.

To retaliate against ethnic Chinese resistance, the Japanese military threatened a second "Sook Ching" – a mass purge of civilians – and extorted 50 million Straits dollars from the Chinese community in Malaya，equivalent to roughly six million British pounds at the time.

Many Chinese families drained their savings and sold off property at rock-bottom prices, yet still could not raise the sum. They were forced to take out high‑interest loans from the Yokohama Specie Bank, plunging them into crippling debt.

In East Malaysia, the Japanese used similar tactics to extort 3.1 million Straits dollars in "national defense funds," alongside poll taxes and various other levies. The Japanese also issued unbacked military scrip, triggering runaway inflation.

In Ipoh, rice prices skyrocketed more than 1,200‑fold, and pork more than 500‑fold. Pushed to the brink of starvation, many fled into the mountains to clear land just to grow their own food.

Furthermore, the Japanese military implemented an insidious "divide and rule" strategy: While brutally suppressing the ethnic Chinese, it employed a conciliatory approach toward Malays and Indians. It sought to win over the latter by recognizing the authority of state sultans and retaining Malay officials in the police and civil service departments – with the aim of sowing ethnic division to solidify its grip on Malaya. At the same time, it stoked anti-British sentiment among Malays and Indians, casting itself as the liberator of Malaya and East Malaysia from colonial rule. These calculated tactics sowed deep-seated ethnic rifts, the repercussions of which continue to haunt the region today.

Unrepentant Japan: Silence cannot erase historical truth

Japan has inflicted untold suffering on Malaya, yet it has never offered a sincere apology or fully acknowledged its wartime crimes.

In late October 2025, during her visit to Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi paid a highly controversial visit to the Japanese Cemetery in Kuala Lumpur, where Japanese war dead from World War II are buried. Laying flowers at the memorial monument, she expressed "deep emotion" over Malaysia's history, yet made no mention whatsoever of the brutal atrocities committed by the Japanese military during the occupation. The visit sparked widespread outrage across Malaysia, drawing sharp criticism from academics and the public alike.

History has long reached its verdict. The atrocities committed by Japanese aggressors are indisputably documented and backed by irrefutable evidence. They must never be forgotten, much less denied or erased. The Tokyo Trials explicitly established that Japanese forces carried out large-scale massacres at over 100 locations across Malaya. Tangible evidence of Japan's war crimes remains etched on Malaysian soil to this day.

On the 80th anniversary of the Tokyo Trials, Asian nations that endured invasion and atrocities – including Malaysia – will never tolerate any attempt by Japanese right‑wing forces to whitewash this dark chapter of history.