Why was Ninji Okamura, the chief war criminal of the Japanese army invading China, acquitted by a military tribunal?
At 10:00 a.m. on January 26, 1949, the Shanghai Military Tribunal held a second public trial of Okamura Ninji, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Dispatch Army (commander-in-chief of the Japanese army invading China).
In fact, the place and time of the trial were not made public, and only about 20 reporters in the courtroom were observers.
At 4 p.m., Presiding Judge Shi Meiyu read out the Judgment No. 28 of the Thirty-Seven Years of the Republic of China:
The defendant, Okamura Ninji, is not guilty.
Pioneer of the invasion of China
Okamura was born on May 15, 1884, to a family of fallen samurai in Tokyo, Japan. Graduated from the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School in 1904, he was like-minded with Kenji Doihara, Seishiro Itagaki, and Alumaya, and had the idea of invading China in his youth.
In 1907, he served as the leader of the Qingguo Student Team of the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School, and met Chinese students such as Yan Xishan, Chen Yi, and Sun Chuanfang, and thus began to understand China.
In 1915, as a dispatcher from the General Staff Headquarters, he came to Shandong, China, to participate in the Japanese competition for Qingdao. This was his first time on Chinese territory, and he spent most of his military career in China since then. He held more military positions than all the generals of the Japanese army invading China.
In January 1917, Okamura was sent to Beijing as an assistant to Lieutenant General Aoki Nobumitsu to gather intelligence.
On October 27, 1921, Okamura Ninji, Nagata Tetsuyama, and Toshishiro Obata, three Japanese military attachés stationed abroad whose rank was only Shosa, met at the Baden-Baden Sanatorium in Germany and formed the "Baden-Baden Pact", agreeing to "eliminate factions, refresh personnel, reform the military system, and establish a general mobilization posture", which is the famous three-feathered alliance in Japanese history.
The formation of the Baden-Baden Pact marked the beginning of the independence of the Japanese military and the starting point for its march towards Japanese politics to promote militarism, a day that japanese historians regard as the birth day of the Showa warlords.
In 1924, Okamura was appointed as the military attaché of the Japanese General Staff headquarters stationed in Shanghai. In his post as a military attaché in espionage, he did a very good job and had "actual achievements". The May Thirtieth Anti-Imperialist Patriotic Movement of 1925 was originally triggered by Japanese capitalists suppressing the workers' strike and killing workers Gu Zhenghong. Okamura Ninji, however, used the British to take the lead and turn the anti-imperialist spearhead of the Chinese people against the British. As a result, Japan's total exports to China in 1925 increased by 12% over the previous year.
During the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War, he fished in muddy waters, sent spies to the two camps as advisers, and manipulated the warlord melee in jiangsu and Zhejiang regions as "I am their judge."
In August 1932, Okamura was appointed deputy chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, commanding the Kwantung Army to attack Rehe and other places, and signing the Tanggu Agreement on behalf of the Japanese side.
Since then, Okamura Ninji's military position has risen higher and higher until he reaches the peak of the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army invading China.
Okamura's main crime was not to fight the Kuomintang troops, but to fight against the Anti-Japanese Base Areas in North China and the Eighth Route Army under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. In July 1941, Okamura mobilized tens of thousands of Japanese puppet troops to carry out many major "sweeps" of the anti-Japanese base areas in North China, including the most brutal "May Day" sweep in 1942, which caused the deaths of about one million civilians.
Okamura Ninji committed heinous crimes against the Chinese people, which are difficult to describe.
Defeated and surrendered
On August 12, 1945, Okamura received a secret telegram from the Tokyo base camp revealing the truth about his intention to accept the surrender. He refused to accept it, and his instructions to all the Japanese troops invading China still arrogantly declared: "Determined to lead the most elite troops of the Imperial Army to victory in hundreds of battles, and with the determination of the whole army to crush the jade, he vowed to destroy the arrogant enemy in order to turn the tide of the tide from falling."
On August 15, 1945, Okamura received a secret telegram from Tokyo saying, "His Majesty the Emperor has decided to accept the Potsdam Proclamation." Only then did he realize that defeat and surrender were a fact, and that he was powerless to return to heaven.
On September 9, 1945, Ninji Okamura, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Chinese Dispatch Army, signed the instrument of surrender to China and handed over his sabre to the Chinese side to indicate that the invading Japanese army had formally surrendered its weapons to China.
But he never acknowledged the defeat of the Japanese army, and repeatedly stressed that the surrender of the Chinese dispatched troops was not due to its own defeat, but had to surrender with the surrender of the country.
After Japan's surrender, Okamura Ninji kept the territory and weapons of the Kuomintang troops far away in the southwest and inland, and refused to surrender their weapons to the armed forces under the leadership of our party. Okamura's move was praised and appreciated by Chiang Kai-shek.
Soon, Okamura Ninji was appointed as the general liaison officer for the aftermath of Japanese officers and soldiers in the Chinese theater, responsible for handling the aftermath of the 2 million Japanese soldiers and civilians in China.
During this time, Okamura Ningji lived a very moist life, often sitting in meditation, playing chess and drinking, fishing and leisure. From time to time, senior Officials of the Kuomintang government met or visited him, including Chiang Kai-shek, Bai Chongxi, He Yingqin, Tang Enbo, and Leng Xin.
The court was tried
As early as November 1945, the CCP listed Okamura as the number one war criminal. The International Trial Tribunal for the Far East also included Okamura on the list of war criminals and three times requested Okamura's extradition to Japan for trial, but all of them were delayed by the Nanjing government for various reasons.
However, after Japanese war criminals such as Tani Shoufu and Tanaka Hisaichi were sentenced to death by the Nationalist government, people from all walks of life paid more and more attention to the trial of Okamura Ninji. Under strong international and domestic pressure, Chiang Kai-shek had to announce that he would send Okamura ningji to the Chinese military tribunal for trial.
On July 7, 1948, the Shanghai Military Court issued a summons ordering Okamura to appear in court.
On August 14, the Shanghai Military Tribunal again conducted a court investigation into Okamura Ningji. Shi Meiyu, the president of the court, asked Okamura several questions:
First, did you serve as the commander of the dispatch army on orders or at your own will?
A: I am the supreme commander of the dispatch army on orders of the government.
How many times have you participated in the Supreme Military Conference of the Great East Asian War?
A: Never participated.
Before you became commander-in-chief, did you know about the Japanese army's massacre of civilians and their burning?
A: I don't know about the massacre and arson of the Japanese army, and after serving as commander-in-chief, I restrained my subordinates.
4. Should you be responsible for the crimes of killing and setting fires committed by the commander of the 27th Division of the Japanese Army, Shikuro Ochiai, the commander of the 116th Division, Shiro Ryotahara, the commander of the 55th Brigade of the 64th Division, and The commander of the Changsha Garrison, Funa Eigenyuki?
A: I am not responsible for the crimes of Shiro Ryotahara and others. Since there are armies under the command of the commander-in-chief, there are military headquarters below the front, and divisions and regiments are under the jurisdiction of the command, two levels away from the general headquarters, the division commander should be responsible for their crimes.
5. Are you responsible for the Japanese Navy and Air Force?
A: Part of the Air Force is under my command, and the Navy and Marine Corps are self-contained systems.
In court, Okamura pushed his crimes to the ground, and the Japanese army's massacre of ordinary Chinese people was blamed on the division commander.
On August 23, 1948, the Shanghai Military Tribunal tried Okamura ning for the first time in the auditorium of the Shanghai Senate. More than 1,000 people attended the hearing, and the outside of the auditorium was also surrounded.
In court, Okamura Ninji denied his crime in every way, and his defense lawyers Jiang Yiping, Yang Peng, Qian Longsheng and the procurator exchanged words and words, and the atmosphere was tense.
Shortly after the trial, Okamura Ninji filed a request for parole and an extension of the trial on the grounds that he was not in good health, which was approved. Okamura, the number one war criminal, spent just over a hundred days in a Chinese prison.
Okamura's public trial was stopped once, and it was stopped for several months, causing dissatisfaction among people from all walks of life.
Shi Meiyu, who is the chief judge, feels pressured. He is well known at home and abroad for presiding over the trial of traitors Chen Gongbo and Miao Bin, for the trial of Japanese war criminals Tani Shoufu and Takashi Sakai, and for providing evidence of Kenji Doihara's conviction. He knew that the Chinese people had high expectations of him, and he also knew that the above did not want to sentence Okamura Ningji heavily. If you get a light sentence, you will be drowned by the spit star. He therefore offered his resignation, but was not approved.
Acquitted
On November 28, 1948, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Military Justice Bureau of the Executive Yuan, and other units held a meeting on how to deal with Okamura Ninji.
At that time, the vast majority of the deputies advocated the death penalty or life imprisonment of Okamura Ninji, but the representative of the Ministry of National Defense, Cao Shicheng, strongly advocated Okamura's innocence:
Okamura's operational command in China followed the orders of the Japanese base camp. During this period, not only did he not give orders to kill, but he also strictly forbade the indiscriminate killing of innocents. Okamura was not directly involved in the killing of Chinese, nor was he ever denounced in this way. Not only that, but Okamura actively obeyed the orders of the central government after the war and did not transfer weapons to the CCP, and he also had a lot of credit in dealing with the final war, right?
As we all know, Okamura has always adhered to the anti-communist stance, and if he is executed, it is exactly the intention of the CCP. On the contrary, his release back to Japan was a rather favorable decision; Okamura would certainly be grateful for this kindness, continue to maintain an anti-communist position in Japan, and is likely to become a force supporting China in future anti-communist wars.
Cao Shicheng's remarks rose to a political level, implying the intentions of Chiang Kai-shek and the Ministry of National Defense. It was a wartime state, and who wanted to be "politically incorrect"?
Therefore, all the delegates at the meeting agreed with Cao Shicheng's proposal. He Yingqin, who presided over the meeting, instructed Cao Shicheng to write a report and send it to Chiang Kai-shek for adjudication.
Songhu Police Commander Tang Enbo, who has been campaigning for the acquittal of Okamura Ningci, wrote in his diary: "Proceeding from an anti-communist viewpoint, I advocate acquittal, and ask the Chairman's Committee, Vice Minister of National Defense Qin Dechun, and especially Minister He Yingqin to attend the deliberations. To this end, Okamura has always regarded Tombaugh as one of his best friends and benefactors.
On January 24, 1949, the Shanghai Military Tribunal again sent a summons to Okamura Ningji. Earlier, Shi Meiyu, the chief judge, received a telegram signed by Chiang Kai-shek: "According to the petition of Tang Enbo, the commander of the Songhu Garrison, Okamura Ningji has been acquitted and should be approved." ”
On January 26, the second public trial of Okamura Ninji. Prosecutors advocated the death penalty, and three Chinese lawyers insisted on innocence. When the court was adjourned at noon, Shi Meiyu took the other four judges to the presiding judge's room and took out the verdict that had been stamped with the big seal of Defense Minister Xu Yongchang and written with the words "innocent."
I must confess to you that this case has been decided by the high authorities. There is nothing I can do about it, so let's sign the verdict now.
The air condensed, and Shi Meiyu continued:
I am well aware of your feelings, so I cannot force you. However, in the next room, the military judge sent by the Ministry of Defense was already on standby there. Even if we didn't sign it, they would have taken over the whole case immediately, and the result would still be the same —the only difference was that we would all be taken to the basement of the Security Command.
Hearing this, all the judges silently picked up their pens and signed their names on the verdict.
After the afternoon trial, the presiding judge Shi Meiyu read out the verdict:
The court was in an uproar, and Shi Meiyu announced her retirement and hid in the presiding judge's room. Angry journalists broke through the gendarmes' obstruction and went to the office to protest. Taking advantage of the chaos, Okamura slipped away through the back door.
The "acquittal" release of Okamura Ninji, the number one war criminal who committed extremely serious war crimes against the Chinese people, was a criminal act of treason and treason, and was denounced by the people of the whole country. On January 28, Comrade Mao Zedong, in the name of the spokesman of the CPC Central Committee, issued a statement through xinhua news agency, "Strictly ordering the Nanjing government to immediately arrest Okamura Ningji, a Japanese war criminal who was recently acquitted by the Kuomintang military tribunal, and at the same time arrest the main Kuomintang war criminals." ......”
Kuomintang President Lee Zong-jin gave the order to arrest Okamura, but Tombaugh withheld the order.
On January 30, Okamura and 259 other Japanese war criminals sailed out of Shanghai on an American steamer and back to Japan.
Death does not repent
After returning to China, he immediately suggested to MacArthur, the supreme commander of the Allied forces in Japan: "If the United States does not make up its mind early and take measures as soon as possible, within half a year, the Chinese mainland will surely return to the Communist Party." ”
In order to repay the favor of the Kuomintang, in 1950, he also served as a military adviser to Chiang Kai-shek, directing the Kuomintang army in the anti-communist campaign.
He died of a heart attack in Tokyo in September 1966 at the age of 82.
Until his death, he did not deeply reflect on the heinous crimes committed against the Chinese people, and he wrote frankly in his memoirs: "The foreign policy of Japan in the past, the stain of its aggression, really must be reflected. But the great goal of liberating East Asia, from the perspective of humanity and human progress, I think is still bright and just. ”
This is truly an unrepentant militarist.