A map of iron ore, sulfur and coal distribution in northern China drawn and published by Japanese troops was recently discovered in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province.

The map, titled Resource Map of Iron Ore, Sulfur and Coal in North Zhina (a derogatory term of China used by Japanese), was drawn to a scale of 1:2 000 000 and can be folded into the size of a 32mo (a measurement of book size) book. In short, it is portable. It was published in March 1940 by a Japanese press in south Manchuria.

The map covers areas including Manchukuo (a puppet regime created in China's northeastern provinces by the Japanese imperialists in 1931), the Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong provinces, and the northern parts of Anhui and Jiangsu provinces.

It marks and numbers iron ore, sulfur and coal deposits in Chinese and Japanese. 

Besides marking the distribution, the map classifies resources into different categories. For example, iron ore is categorized into phospho-iron ores, pyrites and ferromanganese ores -- or Zunhua Ore, Datong Ore and Qingdao Ore depending on the production area.

Transportation networks linking production areas to counties and villages are also detailed.

During the Japanese invasion, almost every Japanese officer had such a map for reference, which suggests that the main reason why the Japanese invaded China was to pillage and plunder China's rich resources.

Japan needed lots of iron, sulfur and coal to make weapons and ammunition to support its invasion, but was limited by its own shortage of natural resources.

According to some experts, Japan had been planning to invade China for its resources for many years. Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, a Japanese spy stole military secrets and drew maps of navy ports in Lvshun (now Dalian) and Weihai.

The spy collected detailed data relating to geography and natural resource distribution under the pretext of sightseeing and studying.

After several decades of preparation, Japan finally launched a full-scale invasion in 1937.

(China.org.cn by Li Shen August 18, 2005)