Japan has withheld 4.4 billion yen - around 42 million US dollars - in funding for the UN heritage body, UNESCO. Analysts have interpreted the suspension of funding as a protest against Chinese documents relating to the Nanjing Massacre being listed as a UNESCO Memory of the World.

However, Japan's Foreign Ministry has denied any link, saying the decision came after weighing the matter in a "comprehensive" manner. China says invading Japanese troops killed over 300,000 civilians and unarmed soldiers following the invasion of Nanjing in 1937, with many women forced into sexual slavery. Japan has attempted to downplay the incident by claiming that the number killed was not as many as 300,000.