Investigation on comfort women: Seven survivor still living on Chinese mainland

The Research Center for Comfort Women at Shanghai Normal University said that after more than 30 years of research, the center has confirmed that the number of survivors of the "comfort women" system in all parts of China is 418, which is more than the number of survivors confirmed by the South Korean government and civilian surveys, which is 239.

The number of survivors recognized in the Chinese mainland is 359.

Su Zhiliang, a professor at Shanghai Normal University and director of the Research Center, said in an interview that most of these elderly people have now passed away, and there are only a few survivors left, so the research center will continue to care about them, and will also follow up on some new clues.

The Japanese "comfort women" system was a system of military sexual slavery imposed by the Japanese government and its military during World War II. The system resulted in at least 400,000 innocent women being forced into sexual slavery around the world. The number of Chinese women victims is particularly large, amounting to 200,000 people.

According to the Center's study, the province with the most survivors is Hainan, with 168, thanks to an investigation promoted by the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; followed by Shanxi Province, with 120 survivors, thanks to the long-term efforts of local civilian investigators, as well as research conducted by professional organizations in China, and with the help of Japanese groups. Hunan is the region where a breakthrough has been made in recent years, with 24 survivors, averaging over 90 years of age, thanks to the rigorous research conducted by the Center's researchers and the support of Hunan's local volunteers and historians.

On May 10, 2023, the last survivor from Taiwan passed away. As of today, there are seven other survivors in the Chinese mainland. The person in charge of the research center said that the old people are fading away, but around the world, statues and monuments of "comfort women" have been erected one after another.

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