Society

Calls for peace mark war commemorations

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-15 21:21

6,830 pairs of cloth shoes representing forced Chinese laborers who were later made victims in Japan during the World War II are placed outside the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, August 15, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

NANJING - More than 300 Chinese people and Japanese pacifists held a memorial ceremony in the east China city of Nanjing Sunday to mark the 65th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.

Japanese pacifists, relatives of the Nanjing Massacre victims and seven delegates from Taiwan attended the ceremony at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

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China-Japan Friendship delegations from Kobe, Nagasaki and Osaka held a banner that said, "Remembrance of the past is the guide for the future."

"The Japanese invaders committed monstrous crimes in Nanjing. We will be here on the anniversary every year to express remorse for their criminal deeds," Tamaki Matsuoka, head of Japanese left-wing group Mei Shin Kai said in an address.

Japanese troops occupied Nanjing on December 13, 1937, and launched a six-week massacre. Chinese records show more than 300,000 people, not only disarmed soldiers, but also civilians, were killed.

Matsuoka leads groups of Japanese visitors to Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall of the Victims and other war relics every year.

"We will call for the Japanese people to face up to the real history and keep it forever in mind," Matsuoka said.

Matsuoka presented the "Gratitude and Friendship" award to Zhu Chengshan, curator of the Nangjing Massacre Memorial Hall, and another two Chinese China-Japanese friendship promoters.