China marks 84th anniversary of Nanking Massacre in WWII
ABC News
China is marking the 84th anniversary of the 1937 Nanking Massacre, in which it says 300,000 civilians and disarmed soldiers were killed by Japanese in and around the former Chinese capital
BEIJING -- China on Monday marked the 84th anniversary of the Nanking Massacre, in which hundreds of thousands of civilians and disarmed soldiers were killed by Japanese troops in and around the former Chinese capital.
A People's Liberation Army honor guard bearing large funeral wreaths marched slowly past a memorial showing the figure 300,000, China's official death toll in the events of December 1937, as solemn music played. Troops, students and 3,000 attendees then stood at rigid attention to observe a minute of silence.
Addressing the gathering, Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said they had came together to “learn from history and open up a new chapter of our future.”
The ceremony aimed to “showcase our lofty commitment to a peaceful development path,” said Sun, the only woman on the ruling Communist Party's 25-member Politburo.
