Authorities scrap settlers' memorial
Source: Xinhua |
August 8, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A STONE monument erected to commemorate Japanese settlers who died in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province after World War II was removed on Saturday, according to local authorities.
Fangzheng County officials said in a microblog they would close the cemetery in which the monument was erected and remove it, following public criticism.
Witnesses said the monument, engraved with the names of 229 Japanese settlers, was removed by Saturday morning.
The Fangzheng County government has been under fire for a week after a micro-blog accused the county of spending 700,000 yuan (US$108,500) on a monument to Japanese settlers in order to attract foreign investment.
The news attracted a huge number of comments on weibo.com, China's largest microblog website.
Hong Zhenguo, the county's deputy head, denied the monument was erected to attract Japanese investment. "Our original intention was to reflect on the past and wish for peace," he said.
Many online comments, however, rejected this explanation, accusing the authorities of kowtowing to money and ignoring the "humiliation" China suffered during Japan's aggression against China in the 1930s and 1940s.
Last week, five members of the China Federation for Defending the Diaoyu Islands, a grassroots organization dedicated to promoting China's sovereignty over these islands in the East China Sea, poured red paint on the monument and attempted to demolish it.
Song Huaduo, one of the five, urged the county government to apologize. All five were briefly detained by local police.
The term "Japanese settlers" is applied to Japanese people who came to northeast China after 1905.
When Japan surrendered in 1945, many of them tried to return to their country. However, due to the long journey home and the incidence of disease, more than 5,000 died in Fangzheng County, according to Wang Weixin, director of the foreign affairs office of the county government.
"Their remains were collected by local people and buried," he said.
In 1963, a cemetery was established for them, approved by the late premier Zhou Enlai.
Fangzheng County officials said in a microblog they would close the cemetery in which the monument was erected and remove it, following public criticism.
Witnesses said the monument, engraved with the names of 229 Japanese settlers, was removed by Saturday morning.
The Fangzheng County government has been under fire for a week after a micro-blog accused the county of spending 700,000 yuan (US$108,500) on a monument to Japanese settlers in order to attract foreign investment.
The news attracted a huge number of comments on weibo.com, China's largest microblog website.
Hong Zhenguo, the county's deputy head, denied the monument was erected to attract Japanese investment. "Our original intention was to reflect on the past and wish for peace," he said.
Many online comments, however, rejected this explanation, accusing the authorities of kowtowing to money and ignoring the "humiliation" China suffered during Japan's aggression against China in the 1930s and 1940s.
Last week, five members of the China Federation for Defending the Diaoyu Islands, a grassroots organization dedicated to promoting China's sovereignty over these islands in the East China Sea, poured red paint on the monument and attempted to demolish it.
Song Huaduo, one of the five, urged the county government to apologize. All five were briefly detained by local police.
The term "Japanese settlers" is applied to Japanese people who came to northeast China after 1905.
When Japan surrendered in 1945, many of them tried to return to their country. However, due to the long journey home and the incidence of disease, more than 5,000 died in Fangzheng County, according to Wang Weixin, director of the foreign affairs office of the county government.
"Their remains were collected by local people and buried," he said.
In 1963, a cemetery was established for them, approved by the late premier Zhou Enlai.
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