China rebukes Japan nationalists over denying Nanjing massacre
Chinese
President Xi Jinping attends a memorial ceremony in Nanjing on December
13, 2014, marking the 77th anniversary of the Nanjing massacre.
Sat Dec 13, 2014 4:19PM GMT
The Chinese president has hit out at Japanese ultra-nationalists for seeking to deny the Nanjing massacre which took place more than seven decades ago.
"Anyone who tries to deny the massacre will not be allowed by history, the souls of the 300,000 deceased victims, 1.3 billion Chinese people and all people loving peace and justice in the world," Xi said, adding, "Forgetting history is a betrayal, and denying a crime is to repeat a crime.”
He, however, stated that while history must never be forgotten, China should not bear hatred against an entire region “just because a small minority of militarists set off an invasion and war.”
Japan invaded China’s eastern city of Nanjing in December 1937.
Beijing says some 300,000 people were killed during the military conflict. About 20,000 women are also believed to have been raped over the six weeks of chaos.
Some 10,000 people, including survivors, attended the ceremony in Nanjing, China’s former capital throughout ten dynasties, to mark the anniversary of the carnage.
AR/KA/SS