Breakthrough in global statute
Had not the Allies emerged victors against the Axis powers, the Tokyo Trial would not have been held. However, the Tokyo Trial is not, as some Japanese politicians distort, something the winner imposed upon the loser.
The Tokyo Trial found the defendants guilty and handed them the punishments they deserved. Their crimes, such as crime against peace and crime of war, are all heinous crimes against humanity, and their victim was the entire humankind. The Tokyo Trial set a precedent by bringing them to trial and confirming their crimes, which was a breakthrough in international law.
After the Tokyo Trial, the international community has established many special international tribunes, which have improved the practice of the international judiciary. The origin of all these international tribunes can be traced back to the Tokyo Trial and the Nuremberg Trial, which respectively sentenced Japanese and German war criminals. The two trials have made major changes to the principle of international law by holding individuals accountable for the crimes they committed in the name of their state.
What China could learn from the Tokyo Trial is more than the international order and how to defend it. As a rising power, China has a lot of economic and political influence. Now, it needs to gain influence in international judiciary.
And China has solid ground to do so. It not only participated in the Tokyo Trial, but also supported the UN Security Council in establishing the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. As a permanent member of the Security Council, China has veto powers, so the two tribunals would not have been possible without its support.
The Nuremberg and the Tokyo trials are the cradle of modern judiciary; they paved the way to deal with international crimes. And China has made huge contributions to the birth and development of modern international judiciary. The two trials' goal was also to safeguard peace in all regions of the world, and China has made great contributions to it.
By Wang Xiaoqiu, Barak Kushner and Zhu Wenqi
Wang Xiaoqiu, a professor of history at Peking University Barak Kushner
Barak Kushner, an associate professor on modern Japanese history at the University of Cambridge
Zhu Wenqi, a professor of international law at Renmin University of China
