In a five-minute video secretly recorded by students, Song was heard saying the official estimate of Chinese people killed in the Nanjing Massacre may be inaccurate. Chinese authorities estimate about 300,000 civilians and unarmed soldiers were killed during the six-week carnage at the hands of the Japanese army after they invaded in 1937.
“The 300,000 figure is not supported by real data,” the teacher is heard saying in the video of Tuesday’s lecture, a day after the country marked the 84th anniversary of the massacre. “Authorities didn’t count the exact number of deaths ... Maybe more than 300,000 people died, or perhaps less than 100,000, even only 30,000 — but we don’t know today.”
