Canadians pay tribute in Nanjing

Shortly before Tomb Sweeping Day, which fell on Thursday, many overseas Chinese and foreigners visited the Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, to remember the dead and call for peace.

During a visit organized by Canada’s Nanjing Fellow Association, about 100 Canadians of Chinese origin wore violet cress-shaped badges as symbols of peace while paying tribute to the victims. Wang Haicheng, president of the association, presented three original documents to the memorial hall, including the motion introduced by Huang Sumei — the first Chinese-Canadian woman elected to the Ontario regional parliament — to designate Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day to remember the victims.

The other two were a statement by Jenny Kwan, Member of Parliament of the New Democratic Party, to call on the Canadian government to proclaim Dec 13 as Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day, and the motion passed by the Toronto City Council in December 2016 — which was introduced by Councilor Jim Karygiannis — to recognize the Nanjing Massacre as a historical event.

“We were interfered with by the government when we held exhibits about the Nanjing Massacre in Toronto years ago,” Wang said. “It said that Canada is a peaceful country and cannot have such ‘bloody’ exhibitions. But now the government has invited us to hold exhibits.”

The Nanjing Massacre, in which more than 300,000 Chinese were killed in a sixweek rampage starting on Dec 13, 1937, took place when Japanese troops captured Nanjing.

Wang, also curator of the World War II Asian Memorial Museum of Canada, said that the museum has collected more than 1,000 relics and pictures related to the massacre to let more people know about the historical event.