China holds national memorial for Nanjing Massacre victims, calling for remembrance of history

The 12th national memorial day was observed on Saturday to honor the 300,000 victims killed by Japanese troops during the Nanjing Massacre, as this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. 

Despite the winter chill, thousands dressed in dark attire gathered at the public square of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, with white flowers pinned to their chests, to take part in the ceremony.

China's national flag was flown at half-mast in front of the crowd that included survivors of the massacre, local students and international guests.

Sirens began blaring at 10:01 a.m. Drivers in the downtown area stopped their vehicles and honked in unison, while pedestrians paused to observe a moment of silence in memory of the victims.

The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the then-Chinese capital on December 13, 1937. Over the course of six weeks, they proceeded to kill approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of WWII. 

In 2014, China's top legislature designated December 13 as a national memorial day for the massacre victims. The Chinese government has also preserved survivors' testimonies in both written transcripts and on video. These documents on the massacre were listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2015.

Eight survivors of the Nanjing Massacre have passed away since the beginning of 2025, reducing the number of living registered survivors to 24.

This year commemorates the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. The only way to move on with hope for a peaceful future is to remember this tragic past.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday urged Tokyo to undertake a genuine reflection on its wartime past, draw lessons from history, completely reject militarism and take concrete actions to eliminate its lingering shadow.

Spokesperson Guo Jiakun reiterated that Japanese militarism is the enemy of people worldwide and emphasized that China will work with all peace-loving countries and individuals to jointly safeguard the outcomes of World War II and the post-war international order.

He said multiple Japanese prime ministers and officials have visited the war-related Yasukuni Shrine and that some politicians have publicly questioned the spirit of the Murayama Statement – a landmark expression of remorse issued in 1995 for Japan's wartime aggression. He added that Japan has repeatedly revised its textbooks in an attempt to whitewash its acts of aggression and rewrite the history of its invasions.

"These egregious moves constitute a blatant challenge to the post-war international order and an affront to human conscience," Guo said, adding that they have triggered strong indignation and vigilance in the international community.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a regular press briefing on Thursday that the Nanjing Massacre has become a symbol of the inhumanity and barbarity of Japanese militarism.

The irrefutable historical truth about the events in Nanjing was legally established and codified in the verdicts of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal in 1947. These rulings, along with the decisions of the Nuremberg Tribunal, form the unshakeable foundation of the post-war world order and modern international law, said Zakharova. 

Any attempts to question them, rehabilitate Nazism and militarism, revise the results of World War II, or downplay the scale of the atrocities committed are absolutely unacceptable and must be resolutely condemned by the entire international community, said the spokesperson. 

(With input from Xinhua)