How many Chinese were killed by the Japanese in World War 2?

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Some scholars consider japan's invasion of china in 1936 as the true beginning of WW2. The chinese website www.xanga.com lists between 10 to 20 millon deaths caused by the Japanese invaders.

Hey sorry this is another person (different to the one above sorry), well hi but anyway, I don't think that it's right to blame the new generation for what their ancestors did but I do think that the older generation who was responsible for the atrocities just to mention the slightest apology, they only have to say it once. And also in answer to some of the answers above. I am not saying you are wrong because I don't even know the EXACT figures. But I must say, 'jap'was and probably still is used in USA so I don't think china uses it that much because they speak chinese. I think around 300000 killed ONLY in Nanking is probably correct. Because Nanking is not a minor town, therefore it can't possibly have such a small population like 200000 people. But in the sense of comparing this to the Nazi Holocaust I think this is worse in the sense of their methods, amendments and attitude. I think the Nazi genocide was much colder in the sense there was no emotion, no thrill nor impulse to kill them. It was cold-blooded, organised and meant to be over and done with. But in nanking (and within the sino-japanese war) they turned the murder into a sport, science and interest. They did operation on chinese people while they were alive, purposefully introduced diseases as a form of experiment and used China as their living laboratory. They even tortured people till they died. Now as for methods, in Nanking the victims were shot, raped, bayonetted, beaten, bludgeoned, pinned against walls until they were dead. Now compare this to Nazi methods: gassed to death, worked to death, shot and executed (almost immediate death). True the Nazis may have killed and tortured but the main cause of death was the gassing or being shot. Which compared to being bludgeoned, bayonetted or tortured to death seems more lenient. And after the Holocaust, apologies made, compensation was paid, the new generations were educated about the Holocaust, the criminals were charged and penalised. But none of this happened for Nanking. No compensations, war crime charges or education ever happened. Not even a simple apology. But as I strongly press again, I am not victimising, blaming or expecting a apology from the Japanese, all I want is for the world to know what happened and for it NOT to happen again. I have already forgiven them, even some of my friends are Japanese so I am not discriminating, blaming or bearing any grudges agaisnt them. I just don't ever want to see it happen again for us and the sake of the world's future.

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Your college friend is telling the truth. China suffered 8,000,000 civilian casualties during its war with Japan, 1937-45. The Japanese did not have "camps" like the Germans, they just worked the native populations of Asia to death. It is such a sad statement that the education system you were a part of did not provide you with a balanced overview of WW 2. Cultures that forget their history are cursed to repeat it, with tragic consequences.

Richard V. Horrell WW 2 Connections.com

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It is because racism. not that chiense don't want to chinese have always wanted japanese to apologize, but japanese never admitt it.!!! It is so sad..... Chinese died so much. They just got shot or killed when ever appeared in front of them Women got rapped, babies pulled out of women in pregrancy, men killed in toture, babies crushed in mills, and more cruel ways... everybody should know about this

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From this webpage: http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jobrien/reference/ob62.html the death casualty of china during WWII (1937-1945) is 12.1 Million. This figure is also confirmed by various resources.

Yes. Japanese army killed way more people than Nazi did in Europe.

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It's an interesting question and one I have been trying to find an answer too, of which I have found is highly subjective.

I have read where China claims up to 60 million, and Japanese down to a few hundred. But the eyewitness accounts of the Rape Of Nanjing, of which the Chinese claim at least 200,000 in that city alone. Souzhou, a moderatly sized city east of Nanjing, after the Japanese were done with it, I have read only 500 civilians were left. But, as I stated, all of which is highly subjective and there is no accurate accounting that I would be satisfied with.

However, from the books I've read, both from a western viewpoint and eastern, it would probably be a safe bet to say 15 to 20 million civilians died at the hands of, what one German diplomat put it, the Japanese Killng Machine.

One has to realize, unlike the Jews, the Chinese have not used their civilian deaths as a pretext to defend themselves in the modern world, but rather as a cry to say, no more war. While the Chinese have their own demonds to contend with when it comes to atrocoties, nevertheless, it needs to be noted, the Chinese have not used their losses in the War as a means to make more war on others.

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20 million chinese people died in WWII, and 90% of it is civilian. dave ghofid said that there are only 3000 chinese\japanese mix, it may be true, but this cannot prove that the rape and massacre did not happened. most women who were raped were killed on the spot, right after the rape takes place. the casualty is hard to know, because the bombs that were left by Japanese in manchuria are still killing people today.

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The Japanese DID kill a lot more Chinese in WWII than in the Holocaust. Millions (that 3000 number statistic is simply ridiculous and impossible...how can it be that a coutnry involved in WWII only has a death toll of 3000? unrealistic, and untrue). And that was in China alone...they also killed more in other Asian countries. Many atrocities were committed. There is a lot of information about it from credible sources at this link: http://www.skycitygallery.com/japan/japan.html

The world doesn't know about it because our world is Western and Eurocentric, so basically all that Americans know about Asia in WWII is that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Also, Japan refuses to acknowledge it's war crimes, which is extremely reprehensible and disgusts me.

But in short, yes, a LOT of Chinese were killed, raped, and tortured by Japanese soldiers in WWII. The vast majority of credible historians acknowledge the occurance to a certain extent (though the events still get very little exposure & awareness), though many Japanese textbooks still deny it.

In Addition, Jap and Nipponese are American words. How can Chinese be the only ones using these words. Chinese aren't the only one's who hate Japan. Koreans, Thais, and many other Asian ethnicities hated the Japanese army as well.

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Let me give you a hint: In the Chinese City of Nanking, Japanese soldiers butchered anywhere between 300,000 to 750,000 civilians. Japanese soldiers quickly turned murder and execution of innocent men, women, and children into a game.

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I love the response in the first answer, where the apparently Japanese person cuts in to someones answer and attempts to, somehow, lessen the brutality of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces. I only wish we could get more Japanese responses from Citizens of Japan. It would be most enlightening for Americans.

The Conduct of the Imperial Forces during the Second World War speaks for itself as nothing less than barbaric savagery at every level. The Japanese may not teach their own people a damn thing about the criminal conduct of its war lords and its soldiers during WWII, but it is even a bit more distrubing when our own kids have the subject glossed over. A nation that does not warn a future generation about another nation that lies to its future generations is making a serious error. Japan remains strictly Japanese, and reinstituted the use of the WWII flag. Imagine if Germany felt the Swastika would be make nice flag as well. Yes, we are way to eurocentric. When I lived on Whidbey Island in Washington State, I was horrified to discover that the kids who went to school there didn't know a damn thing about the history of the 10" cannons located at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island. They were brought back from the last stand of General Wainwright which subsequently lead to the Batan Death March. A frightful thing they are to imagine manning while under attack. Huge gouges of steel ripped and torn from their massive shields. It's sad to me to think of them, of the men who died manning them, of the vets who raised the money to bring them back after the Second World War, and, now, they sit in the damp fog of Whidbey Island. Totally unknown or honored, except by park rangers and a few know it alls. Not even the kids whose history teachers could take them to see the things know, much less care, anything at all about them. Maybe its just been all so long ago it doesn't seem to matter anymore to many people. I matters to me, I can't imagine all that these blasted and torn objects represent don't matter.

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It is very difficult to come up with an accurate number of Chinese killed by direct or indirect Japanese action during WWII. Most sources seem to indicate that the figure is around the 10 to 12 million mark (2.1 mil. military casualties and 9 mil. civilian casualties). Many sources I find include deaths attributed to fighting between Chinese Nationalists and Communists forces, and natural disasters (mainly drought and flood) in their totals, making a final accurate tally almost impossible. Though horrendous and unforgivable, the numbers still pale in comparison to casualties inflicted on the Soviet Union by the Nazis.

An interesting side note is that since WWII more than 38 million Chinese have been killed by their own communist government. Where is the outcry over that?

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35 million were killed by the Japanese during the War, according to a TV documentary. I came from the Great Northern Plains where the Japs implemented the Three All policy. Kill all, burn all, and take all. We still dig up bones, skeletons of people with bayonent marks on their rib cage. It is pretty hard to forget if you've seen them being dug up when you are seven. Everytime you dig up bones, you add to the death toll. We protest because of the fact that Japan deny their history as well as the fact that many Japanese are taught to think they are racially superior to the other Asian Races. Recent incidents where Japanese bussiness men forced passengers on a plane who spoke Chinese to kneel down before them and act like a slave, and the proposal by memebers of japanese parliament to start a new War angered the Chinese. Japanese racial attitudes are lamentable, because China is no longer fractured, but united and strong. I hope one day they do realize that facism is no longer tolerable in this world.

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Chinese casualties for WW 2 (1937-45) are as follows: Military 3,200,000 Civilian 8,000,000

However, these estimates are low, since there was never an accurate body count. There could be none, since the Japanese "destroyed" so much of the evidence!!!

Richard V. Horrell WW 2 Connections.com

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It's more like military 1,000,000 civilian 10,000,000

First answer by anonymous. Last edit by RoyR. Contributor trust: 3365 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 74 [recommend question]