Sook Ching Massacre - Definition of Target Group

Definition of Target Group

After the Japanese military occupied Singapore, they were aware that the local Chinese population was loyal to either Britain or the Republic of China. Some wealthy Chinese had been financing the National Revolutionary Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War through a series of fund-raising propagandist events. The Japanese military authorities, led by Tomoyuki Yamashita, decided on a policy of "eliminating" those who harboured strong anti-Japanese sentiments.

The Japanese military authorities defined the following as "undesirables":

• Activists in the China Relief Fund
• Wealthy men who had contributed generously to the China Relief Fund
• Adherents of Tan Kah Kee, leader of the Nanyang National Salvation Movement
• Hainan people, perceived to be communists
• China-born Chinese who came to Malaya after the Second Sino-Japanese War
• Men with tattoos, perceived to be triad members
• Chinese who joined the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army
• Civil servants and those who were likely to sympathise with the British, such as the Justices of the Peace, and members of the Legislative Council
• People who possessed weapons and were likely to disrupt public security

Yamashita instructed the Syonan garrison to cooperate with the Syonan Kempeitai, the Japanese military police, to "punish hostile Chinese severely".