China has a National Martyrs’ Day now

Beijing, Sept. 1: Chinese legislators have approved a national day to commemorate people who died in wars resisting foreign invaders, state media reported, at a time when Beijing remains at loggerheads with Tokyo over territory and history.

The country’s top legislature on Sunday declared September 30 as Martyrs’ Day, which will be marked “with events across the country” every year, the official news agency Xinhua said.

Beijing defines martyrs as “people who sacrificed their lives for national independence and prosperity”.

“The move is aimed at publicising martyrs’ achievements and spirits, and cultivating patriotism, collectivism, and socialist moralities so as to consolidate the Chinese nation’s cohesiveness,” Xinhua added, citing the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber-stamp Parliament.

China’s ruling Communist Party has long used nationalism as part of its claim to a right to rule.

It stresses that under its leadership, which began in 1949, China finally overcame more than a century of humiliation by outside powers. — AFP