Anniversary of Japan surrender observed

ANTI-JAPANESE war memorials in China hosted commemorative activities yesterday to observe the 74th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.

Seventy-four years ago, on August 15, Chinese people ended 14 years of fight against the Japanese invaders, as Japan announced its unconditional surrender.

The anniversary marks an important commemorative day of the transition from war to peace, as Chinese memorial halls of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression keep the memory of the fallen fresh in our minds.

A peace assembly was held yesterday in Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province.

A total of 20 representatives from Japan and over 140 youth representatives from 10 countries including China, the Republic of Korea, the United States and the Philippines, attended the event held in the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, mourning the 300,000 people who were killed in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

Japanese invaders slaughtered about 300,000 Chinese during a six-week rampage after they captured the city, which was then China’s capital, on December 13, 1937.

“I want to face the truth and history directly in Nanjing, solve the puzzles that have been lingering in my mind, and learn and communicate with peace lovers from different countries and regions,” said Ishiguro Masakazu, a student from Ritsumeikan University.

“We remember history not to extend hatred, but to call on the continuous pursuit for peace, which requires joint efforts by young people from more countries,” said Jia Haiyang, a student from Harbin Institute of Technology.

In the outskirts of Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a red asphalt road threads ruins of the war and memorial halls scattered in the mountains to form a tour loop.

“Visitors to the preserved sites are able to see the living and combat environment during the war,” said Wu Mingguang, director of the Cultural Relics Protection and Management Institute of Wuchuan County.

He said the Daqing Mountain anti-Japanese war base was one of 19 anti-Japanese bases in China, where many wartime relics and martyrs’ cemeteries are preserved in the mountains.

“This is the cavalry dormitory, next to the stable. This was the living environment of the Daqing Mountain detachment of Chinese cavalry during the anti-Japanese war,” said Yin Lu, a volunteer.

(Xinhua)