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From the archives: My CBC Viewpoint China Column from 2005
By Sylvia Yu
For 63 years, Mr. Chen Chong Wen has had to change the bandages on his leg daily. His home-style remedy for his oozing wound is to use a playing card to stop the flow. “There’s no medicine for this,” he said, “it hurts very much and it itches.”
The stench of rotting flesh is overwhelming as he shows his leg. His open sore is terrible-looking and has a tofu-like texture. He feels he’s been a burden to his family because they have to take care of him. “It’s my bad luck,” he says and looks down at the ground.
Mr. Chen Chong Wen (center) with injured leg from biological warfare
Chen was infected with “rotten leg disease,” it’s also known as glanders, as he was running away from the Japanese Imperial Army in Zhejiang province in 1942. His mother was also infected. And not too long after her heel rotted off, she died in terrible pain.
At the time he didn’t know why he had met such misfortune, but Chen now knows that he was a victim of biological warfare, inflicted by the Japanese military during an invasion of China.
Chen has had several costly surgeries in the last eight years with no government support. He’s interested in joining a lawsuit against the government of Japan to receive some compensation to ease some of his suffering. So far no single rotten-leg case has been filed against the Japanese government.
Since June 1995, Chinese victims of Japanese war crimes have begun to sue the Japanese government, according to Kang Jian, a Beijing-based human rights lawyer. She says there are 24 cases altogether on behalf of biological warfare survivors, Rape of Nanking (Nanjing) and sexual slavery victims.
“We’re asking relatives to testify and we have survivors to bear witness on the use of biological warfare dropped on villages, and chemical bombs and canisters that are still being unearthed in China,” she says.
Li Meitou with Thekla Lit, a founder of BC Alpha. (Photo: BC Alpha)
Last fall I met another survivor of biological warfare in southern China. I went to visit 77-year-old Ms. Li Meitou in her home village near Tang Xi township.
The tiny woman limps along ahead of me as we walk to her home. She smiles gently and often in spite of the chronic pain she endures. Li has had rotten leg disease since she was 12 years old.
“I’ve had difficulty walking and I experience pain, a fierce burning feeling,” she says. Because she can’t afford medical treatment, she uses some over-the-counter medicine and salt.
Li’s home was a small, dark one-room place with a dirt floor and dingy walls; one small table and bench lined the back. I felt sick that she had to live this way. Why wasn’t she receiving any substantial financial support?
As she sits down she takes off her bandage and shows me her rotting leg. One of my friends has to walk back and turn away because the smell of her open wound made him nauseous. She asked us to tell her story to the world so that all would know what the Japanese did to her and others in her village.
Exact figures of deaths as a result of Japanese biological warfare are hard to come by. But China’s most famous champion of biological warfare survivors, Wang Xuan, who has gathered evidence for lawsuits launched in Tokyo, says as many as 50,000 people in Quzhou died in 1940 from the plague that spread to neighbouring areas until 1948. In total 300,000 people fell ill from this plague attack.
China's most famous champion of biological warfare survivors, Wang Xuan. (Photo: BC Alpha)
Wang, whose home village in Yiwu was devastated by biological warfare, says the Japanese military used germ-carrying fleas mixed with grains, fibres, beans and cottons. They dropped these “balls” from the sky and let them float down. The local rats then ate the grains, and the fleas also jumped onto small animals and infected people.
The fleas were specially raised to carry germs at the infamous Unit 731 laboratory in Northern China that the Japanese military set up to create and test biological warfare experiments. One Unit 731 veteran testified in a Japanese court how rats and fleas were raised and how 600 kg of anthrax was produced monthly at the compound.
About a decade ago, farmers from Wang’s home village “wanted to fight for their rights and dignity” for the immense suffering and deaths caused by the Japanese military. They sent a petition to the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.
Somehow a group of Japanese peace activists heard about the village and decided to find out more. The Japanese activists reported their findings at an international symposium in Harbin, China, which the Japan Times covered. Wang, who was living in Japan at the time, read the article. The rest is history. She got in touch with people from her village again and eventually became a vocal activist as well as researcher and translator for the Japanese legal team.
The illiterate villagers set up a Japanese biological warfare investigation committee. They were able to obtain a diary of a Japanese military doctor who was stationed with the occupation army in Yiwu. He was a Christian and humane, says Wang. He condemned the war crimes and documented biological warfare activities in his diary.
There was three years of preparation involving the Japanese peace activists, scholars, villagers and local Chinese government. They had an annual medical check up to trace evidences of the plague in the area. Every year, researchers caught 100 rats to see if they still carried the plague, by determining if plague germ antibodies were in their blood.
Up until 1996, plague germs were found in rats. In 2001, a Chinese doctor testified that biological warfare still threatens the Chinese people. His testimony was covered by international news agencies.
The villagers lost their first-ever lawsuit in August 2002. However, the Tokyo District Court confirmed the use of biological warfare by the Japanese Imperial Army. “For the first time in history an office of authority in Japan admitted biological warfare in China. The verdict is in history. The [Japanese court] said biological warfare was in violation of the Geneva Treaty and international agreements and that Japan was responsible for that,” says Wang. “But they said the issue of responsibility was resolved because China gave up her rights [to seek war reparations] in the 1972 Sino-Japan Joint Communiqué.”
In the recent war of words and diplomatic tensions between China and Japan, the most important voices have not been heard. Many actual victims of Japanese war crimes are living in squalid conditions and cannot afford basic medical treatment.
How is it that survivors of cruel, inhumane acts in war, like Chen Chong Wen, have been forgotten? I just don’t understand and shake my head at the Japanese prime minister and his repeat visits to a shrine that honours infamous war criminals (no one responsible for biological warfare was ever convicted for crimes against humanity).
Indeed, I’m dumbfounded at the lack of financial aid for these biological war crime survivors, when I’ve been told China is angry about Japanese history textbooks that whitewash the suffering of the Chinese during the Japanese invasion. The elderly survivors need medical help, and they need financial aid.
I will never forget the sight of Chen Chong Wen weeping. With a pained expression on his face, Chen sobbed loudly, “I don’t want anything else. I just want the wound to close. That’s the only thing I want.”
Me and the cutest 3-year-old - she has the sweetest voice and loves to sing, but also can be very strong-willed. This one is a leader and needs to be nurtured in the right way so that her spirit won't be broken by harsh discipline
Thankful for times and people who change your life… thankful for the ability to choose where I want to work and everything else. The former trafficked women I met in The Golden Triangle region do not have the freedom to choose because they were born in a village and have had limited education, nor have they developed confidence in themselves to fulfill their dreams. Those of us who do have decision-making power can help empower the voiceless. We have a huge responsibility if we’re willing…
“If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large.” – William Wilberforce
I have been without internet for sometimes the entire day and I have lived to tell about it. (half kidding)
It’s intense to be around abandoned kids and former sex slaves. So some of us volunteers decided to kick back and hang around with some elephants at the minority village!
No twitter and facebook access and spotty wifi + a very intense schedule on the road = neglected blog. I have a few more cities to go before I have an extended time of work.
I call him Bif. He had his wheaties and then some this morning. FYI: he responds only to Chinese with a heavy dialect.
Poseurs for a day in minority dresses. I'm wearing a Jingpo outfit at the far right.
I am this minority rock star's biggest fan for the moment
Hani minority guy at the village well
At a touristy village theme park that features 26 minorites... I need another day to go through all of the minority villages
We are like gold after fires of purification… often adversity and challenging seasons are the springboard for beautiful things… here’s one of my first paintings in a long, long time… finished it this past March.
- Fire purifies – gold is for the glory of God we see reflected in pure souls
Here are other photos from my trip to rural China:
Lovely nai nai's (grandma in Chinese) who have endured so much and yet possess a certain girlish innocence. One of these nai nai's is in need of a permanent home - we need to find one for her asap
Scrumptious 8 course dinner in rural China
Donkey meat - what do you think it tastes like???
It’s taking forever to upload photos… will have to do this when I have faster internet access. Ciao for now!
I feel chubby. My sister says it’s a good thing since I look like a bean pole with a long neck (her very words).
I am in food heaven. I didn’t think I could find another place in the Middle Kingdom that beats Yunnan, but this province I’m in, could very well take the cake. The dish I’m enamored with is nicknamed “BBQ grandma” and it’s a potato noodle with some fried chips scattered throughout. Yum! (I ordered this at every lunch and dinner! it became an inside joke among us)
"BBQ Grandma" dish unique to Shanxi
The people here are so very nice and down to earth… kind of like the Midwest of China.
I’ll do the big reveal and will let you know the location in a few days after I post the photos! It’s been mind-blowing… everything from the filming to the people we’re meeting… extraordinary souls.
With "Nai nai" (grandma in Chinese) - isn't she adorable?
Nai nai - I call her the joyful grandma
Please pray for this 70+ year old man, a traveling pastor, who is in need of a home for himself and his 90+ year old mother. He has never been married and had dedicated his whole life to working with churches in China. Now he is virtually homeless. There are hundreds of elderly church workers in the same situation in mainland China. I hope that a seniors home will be established in his village.
Reflections
I’m feeling grateful for all the amazing loved ones in my life. Life would be incredibly boring and meaningless without my global “family” (and my own family of course!) and covenant friendships. This day, in the middle of my work day, I find myself reflecting on how it takes a real mastery over your fears to realize your dreams and vision and go to the next level, a level that is beyond your capabilities and imagination.
I feel encouraged by John Maxwell’s reminder that fear is the price of moving forward especially when you’re pioneering and no one has gone before you to pave the way. I like what he says about the burning desire that overcomes the fear. I agree. That burning deep-calls-to-deep bonfire of the heart is a God-given indicator of what you were made for… the passion I have is to eradicate poverty, to help orphans, women and children at risk, trafficking victims through social enterprises and other sustainable social services.
Have you thought of lately what you were destined for? Are you living that out? If not, what’s stopping you?
Here are some tidbits from Maxwell’s blog:
Accept fear as the price of progress
“As long as I continue to push out into the world,” said Susan Jeffers, “as long as I continue to stretch my capabilities, as long as I continue to take risks in making my dreams come true, I am going to experience fear.”
To do anything of value, we have to take risks. And with risk comes fear. If we accept it as the price of progress, then we can take appropriate risks that yield great reward.
Develop a burning desire that overcomes fear
Sometimes the best way to fight fear is to focus on our reason for confronting it. Is it bigger than the fear? The firefighter runs into the burning building not because he’s fearless, but because he has a calling that is more important than the fear.
The person afraid of flying decides to confront it not because the fear has vanished, but because a meeting with a new grandchild awaits at the end of the flight.
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart. ~Helen Keller
This is going to be one of those random postings. I’ve been too preoccupied lately and have neglected this blog! And my other one at Aiasia.wordpress.com. Some good news: the writing process for the book is picking up steam again.
I’m really missing China these days. I miss the swarms of people, my friends, the grittiness of the streets and oh, the wide variety of food… I left my heart in the Middle Kingdom. America is growing on me though.
I miss Linda and David! Linda (in orange) is like a sister to me. David is like a nephew.
Here’s a list of 10 things I want to do before I die (not in order):
1. Trace Jesus’ steps in Israel & tour the Middle East
2. Start a foundation & social enterprise for at risk women & empower as many impoverished families as I can
3. Write a novel
4. Take a round-the-world trip
5. Dance on top of the Eiffel Tower with my husband
6. See a U2 concert with my kids
7. Write poetry in Paris
8. Take more hip hop and learn salsa with my husband
9. Take more time for painting and photography
10. Write more books, produce films, music CDs, a TV drama series and Asian animation
One of my favorite spots in the world in southern China on the Tibetan plateau in Deqin. We biked to this high altitude spot. It's freezing cold and hard to breathe due to high elevation levels.
Living in China has been an eye opener
November 2009
By Sylvia Yu
Ms. Chen Yu Hong is one of 16 million migrants living in Beijing. (Her story is at the end of this post)
BEFORE my first trip to China, my Vancouverite vision of the country was of a land trapped in circa 1970 – with idyllic rice paddies, and the occasional beat-up car plodding along on dusty dirt roads.
In summer 2004, I was invited to join a research tour to several cities and villages in China. We were commissioned to document interviews with academics, as well as survivors who bore witness to the effects of biological warfare, sex slavery and other hardships inflicted by the Japanese military during World War II.
I was bracing myself for a country with spotty electricity, crude and ancient infrastructure and people in drab clothing. Little did I know that Shanghai, my first stop in the tour, and other parts of China, were much more modern than I had envisioned.
Mega malls, highways filled with cars and chic fashionistas in stilettos strutted around hipster hang-outs, much to my surprise. The vibe in the cities was decidedly electric, as if the possibilities were endless in this ‘new’ China.
Yet, when we journeyed to the countryside, my vision of China circa 1970 was eerily spot on.
In villages, I met several elderly people who had been affected by biological warfare chemicals that the Japanese military had unleashed against civilians. As a result, the infected bleeding sores on their bodies – a constant source of pain and the unbearable stench of rotting flesh – prevented them from getting married and from working.
With their families earning meagre wages of about $300 RMB per month ($50 Cdn), they could not afford proper health care after the dismantling of the commune system in the late 1970s. Their plight was heartrending; but even more tragic was that their circumstances were relatively unknown.
After spending nearly a month touring different provinces, I ended up falling in love with the Chinese people and their vibrant and diverse country.
At one point, I came across a three-year old girl forced to beg on the streets. Her name was Yang Yue. She haunted me so much that I went out to look for her over several nights. That led to a lot of contemplation and prayer, over what’s important to me – and how I want to spend my life.
I returned to China a few months later that year, this time with immigration-worthy luggage and adventure on my mind. In addition to writing and journalism gigs, I was fortunate enough to land a job that suited my passion to help the marginalized and the ‘have nots’ as a fund manager and advisor to international philanthropists.
I was facilitating on behalf of donors who wanted to invest in large-scale social change – to impact an entire region or country, and not just throw money at a short-term fix.
Through my work, I’ve developed granting strategies in China for multi-year, combined delivery of services by a mostly grassroots network working towards the same annual goals – such as reducing overall HIV prevalence rates, or empowering thousands of low-income migrant workers living in urban centres with job training.
China is experiencing one of the largest migrations in history. At least 150 million people from the countryside have moved to the cities in search of work. I had the privilege of getting to know many migrants in Beijing.
Fen Dong, a 21 year old from a small village in Yunnan province (southwestern China), helped me better understand the struggles they face in the city. Dong was working at a hair salon, earning less than 600 RMB a month ($100 Cdn).
She sacrificed more than half of her earnings to support her family. She lived in a cramped, refurbished closet in the moist basement of an old building. I was dismayed to see her living conditions.
During a trip to southern China to evaluate a project that borders Myanmar, I interviewed a young man named Ma Le. A heroin addict with HIV, he lived on a tattered mattress out in the forest. A staff member from a non-profit found him passed out from a drug overdose in the nearby sugar cane fields, and nursed him back to health. I found out later that he passed away several months after my visit.
Another former addict named Bawk, assisted by the same organization, overcame his addiction and was later referred to a divinity school in Myanmar in the fall of 2007. Now he is sharing his story and inspiring other drug users to go to the rehabilitation centre.
The contrast of the destinies of these two men is striking. One rehabilitation program helped make a difference in Bawk, so that his life could become a powerful message.
From my time travelling through China, I know there’s nothing like understanding a smidgen of God’s vast fatherly heart of love for the poor and the downtrodden – and to dream big with them, and on their behalf.
I’m becoming involved in more media campaigns to raise awareness of humanitarian work. It’s my dream to see young people from the west mobilized to help impoverished communities, in China and beyond.
Sylvia Yu is currently living and working in China.
Chen Yu Hong’s story of poverty, crushing medical debt and quiet desperation was moving. I thought of her for a long time after our meeting. While still in the countryside, Chen signed up for free vocational training through Xin Zhi Guang, a social enterprise in Beijing. She wasn’t sure if the organization was legitimate or not, and even though she was afraid it might be a prostitution/trafficking ring, she went for it anyway because she had no way to support herself.
Her husband had suddenly left her and her son and she had to find a way to support herself and to help pay for her mother’s mounting medical bills. Her mother has a terminal illness and cannot live on her own. Chen’s enormous debt to the hospital is a common story in China. Many cannot afford their inordinately high hospital bills and they end up paying these bills off for a long time like indentured slaves. I could not find one organization that helps pay off medical bills for the poor in China. This is one of my quests in the near future to find a way to help those in medical debt.
“The splendor of a just soul is so seductive that it surpasses the beauty of all sensible things.”
~Thomas Aquinas
This is a profound quote… it astounds me really… still drinking it in after reading it more than an hour ago.
Who are some “just souls” that you can think of? Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela… I know some modern day just and noble souls who are: rescuing trafficked women, loving homeless people in Tokyo and keeping the passion alive for racial reconciliation, and nurturing abandoned children in China (Cheryl of Mother’s Heart www.mothersheartchina.org).
How do they become “just”? It may be through a process of coming through the fires of life without allowing bitterness to take root. Perhaps they are just born that way.
Life can shape you in beautiful ways or cripple. One’s heart can enlarge or harden with experiences and pain. It doesn’t have to be big pain; it could be whatever we long for that we don’t possess. The longings, the unfulfilled desires, the deferred hopes. How we respond, instead of knee-jerk reacting, will determine everything.
Shallowness and pettiness are worse than disease; those who are afflicted by it are the last to know. There is nothing more repelling than self-centeredness. Another shade of this is popularly dubbed ”toxic people.”
May I/we continually work towards attaining nobility of heart and mind.
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