A bell-ringing ceremony is being held on Saturday at the September 18 Incident History Museum in Shenyang City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, to mark the 90th anniversary of a Japanese army's attack that triggered the start of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and served as a prelude to World War II.
It was on September 18, 1931, that Japanese troops blew up a section of the railway near Shenyang under their control and accused Chinese troops of sabotage as a pretext for subsequent aggression.
Around 100 people from all walks of life including students and veterans attended the memorial ceremony at the museum and bells were tolled 14 times to represent the number of years of Chinese resistance (1931-45). As usual, sirens were wailed in Shenyang to remind people of the history.
"Today, we host the commemoration to remember the history, honor the fallen heroes and also promote the spirit of the Chinese people's resistance against the Japanese invasion," said Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, at the commemoration event.
Shenyang's residents used various ways of their own to mark the anniversary. Zhan Hongge, a collector, revealed, for the first time, some historical material showing evidence of Japanese aggression and wartime atrocities, the Shenyang Evening News reported.
Zhan has donated cultural relics and historical materials he collected to the museum for 20 years, saying he hopes the records would enrich the history of the incident and let more people know the truth.
In the future, I will keep collecting relevant relics and materials and fulfill my donation promise to the museum, he told the Shenyang Evening News.
People pay respects after hearing air defense sirens in Huaibei City, east China's Anhui Province, September 18, 2021. /CFP
Other cities and museums around China also organized memorial activities for the day. Beijing and Huaibei City in east China's Anhui Province sounded air defense sirens to mark the incident as well as the 21st National Defense Education Day, held annually nationwide in China on the third Saturday of September.
Flowers were laid to the martyrs at the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. It also held a themed concert jointly with the September 18 Incident History Museum to look back on history on Saturday morning in Beijing.
An eight-episode documentary by the Documentary Center of Shanghai TV, titled Asia-Pacific War Crimes Trials, will be broadcast again on the documentary channel of Shanghai TV and CCTV's Channel 7 starting today.
It's the first non-fiction TV series that documents the trials of B- and C-level WWII criminals from Japan, wenhui.whb.cn reported.
The documentary series was first broadcast by television stations around the world, including Shanghai TV, SPB TV in Russia and Sinovision in the United States, after production was completed early last year. The show went on to win several awards, including the gold award in the history category at the 42nd Telly Awards in the U.S..
The awards showed the international community's condemnation of Japanese aggression and Japanese soldiers' war atrocities, according to wenhui.whb.cn.