Japan seeks to 'block' application for Nanjing

Pleas against adding documents to Memory of World reportedly ignored

The Japanese government has reportedly tried to block China's effort to apply to UNESCO to list documents relating to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre on the Memory of the World Register.

On Sunday, UNESCO's International Advisory Committee started to review the documents related to the Nanjing Massacre as well as archives on "comfort women" - those forced to be sex slaves for Japanese troops during World War II. Through the Japanese embassy, the Japanese government has asked China to retract the nomination, according to a report in Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper.