Xi: Japan must learn from past
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Xi Jinping yesterday urged Japan to learn from its past military aggression, as China commemorated the 69th anniversary of winning the war against Japanese invasion on a newly appointed Victory Day amid tense ties between the two countries.
Xi and his six fellow members of the Party’s Politburo Standing Committee presided over a ceremony at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing.
China will observe three memorial days in September for the first time this year to mark the conflict with Japan.
The government earlier in the year declared September 3 as a national day to mark Japan’s defeat.
Japan signed its formal surrender on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, with China celebrating the following day.
“China will never allow any denial or distortion of this history of aggression or any return to militarism,” Xi said.
Addressing a symposium held at the Great Hall of the People in the afternoon, Xi said the war brought calamity to the people of China and other Asian countries, adding that the facts cannot be denied.
He urged Japan to “admit to and reflect on its history of militarist aggression.”
“Japan must show a sense of responsibility for history, the region’s people and the future,” Xi said.
China is ready to promote the long-term, steady and healthy development of Sino-Japanese relations on the basis of the four political documents, he said, but stressed that Tokyo’s correct treatment of and deep reflection on past events is the political basis of bilateral ties.
With the utmost resolution and effort, we will join with people all over the world to safeguard the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the world war against fascism, he said.
“Black is black, you cannot turn it into white by denying it 10,000 times. White is white, you can never turn it black by denying it 10,000 times,” Xi said.
He also urged Japan to be prudent in dealing with historical issues, to learn its lessons and stick to the road of peaceful development.
Hundreds of veterans, officials, military personnel, children and people in traditional ethnic minority dress attended the event at the anti-Japanese invasion museum.
Opening the event, Premier Li Keqiang asked the crowd to pay “silent tribute to the martyrs” who gave their lives in the war against Japan.
Xi and other top leaders placed seven flower baskets in front of sculptures of martyrs inside the museum, as China Central Television broadcast the event live.
A 14-gun salute was fired, symbolizing China’s 14-year struggle against the Japanese invaders, which began on September 18, 1931, when Japanese troops attacked northeast China and continued until 1945.
A total of 3,500 doves were released later to remind people of the estimated 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians who were killed or injured by Japanese troops.
Later, officials toured a museum exhibition established to acknowledge the contribution Chinese people made to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.
Featuring more than 150 historical relics and 200 pictures and videos, it comprehensively shows China’s role as an important strategic pillar for the allied forces in the Asia-Pacific region and the other contributions the country made to the war effort.
Before the ceremony, China’s leaders met with veterans, relatives of martyrs and the family representatives of deceased foreigners who contributed to the victory in the war.
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