Chinese Student Association to show controversial film

The Chinese Student Association (CSA) is to show a controversial documentary on Japanese atrocities in China during World War II tonight in the HUB.

The Forgotten Holocaust depicts Japan's occupation of Manchuria and its treatment of Chinese military personnel and civilians during the war. It is estimated that 10 to 30 million Chinese were killed.

The loss of Chinese lives during the war is well known in Asian communities but not in western countries, said CSA President Derek Xu. The CSA feels that sharing this information is important because it is a significant event in Chinese history.

"Western history literature doesn't mention anything about [these events], and we feel that this a piece of history people should know about," Xu said.

The association hopes to draw a diverse group of students and general public to the showing. The CSA believes the film will help answer questions raised about Chinese and Japanese relations.

"[The war] had a pretty big effect on current Chinese and Japanese relationships," Xu said. "People don't understand where there's so much hatred between the two. This movie highlights why."

In a 1937 incident known as the Rape of Nanjing, an estimated 300,000 Chinese in the city of Nanjing died at the hands of Japanese soldiers.

While the film casts a negative light on Japan's wartime actions, Xu said the CSA has no political agenda. The showing is intended to be purely educational.

This film is the CSA's way of showing who they are and what happened, said publicity director Nancy Sun.

"The film is controversial, but our purpose isn't to start any riots," she said.

The Forgotten Holocaust is the first film hosted by the CSA. Xu said that in the future, not all showings will be as controversial.

The film is sponsored by the Asian Student Commission and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and is free to UW community students and the public.