Next week, China will observe the 8th National Memorial Day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, and its Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will hold the seventh-term Legislative Council (LegCo) election.
China remembers Nanjing Massacre victims
China will hold a memorial ceremony to mourn the victims of the Nanjing Massacre on Monday when a minute of silence will be observed and sirens sounded across the east China city.
In 2014, China's top legislature designated December 13 as the National Memorial Day for the victims of the massacre, which took place when Japanese troops captured the city on December 13, 1937.
The Japanese invaders brutally killed about 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers during the six-week massacre, making it one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.
Only 65 registered survivors of the massacre were still alive in August 2021, according to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.
The Chinese government has preserved the survivors' testimony, recorded in both written documents and video footage. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization listed the records in the Memory of the World Register in 2015.
Read more:
Nanjing Massacre survivor: Japan should apologize for 1937 atrocities
Nanjing Massacre: History shall never be repeated
HKSAR holds LegCo election
The upcoming seventh-term LegCo election in the HKSAR will be held on December 19 when nearly 4.5 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots between 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday said efforts have been made to ensure a fair, open and accurate election and called on residents to cast a vote of confidence in the future of Hong Kong.
The LegCo election, the first since improvements made to the HKSAR electoral system earlier this year, will see 90 members: 20 from geographical constituencies, 30 from functional constituencies and 40 from the Election Committee constituency returning.
Read more:
153 candidates validly nominated for HKSAR 7th-term LegCo election
HKSAR government strongly condemns U.S. 'unfounded' report
Day by day:
Monday: China commemorates the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre; Germany's new Finance Minister Christian Lindner travels to Paris; French President Emmanuel Macron attends a summit of the four Visegrad countries – Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia; U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken starts his visit to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand (to Thursday); EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting.
Tuesday: United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council meeting on Afghanistan; EU General Affairs Council meeting.
Wednesday: UN Human Rights Council meeting on Ukraine; Indian President Ram Nath Kovind is scheduled to make a three-day state visit to Bangladesh (to Friday); Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan meet in Brussels to discuss tensions that led to border clashes with casualties in November.
Thursday: Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev makes a three-day state visit to South Korea at the invitation of President Moon Jae-in (to Saturday); European Council meeting (to Friday).
Friday: Foreign ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation meet in Islamabad to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
Saturday: A quiet day in politics.
Sunday: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region holds the seventh-term Legislative Council election; Chileans vote in the second round of the presidential elections.