A bell-ringing ceremony was held to mark the 93rd anniversary of the September 18 Incident in front of a monument at the September 18 Incident History Museum in Shenyang City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, on Wednesday.
It was on this fateful day in 1931 when Japanese troops blew up a section of the railway near Shenyang under their control, and accused Chinese troops of sabotage as a pretext for subsequent aggression against China.
Representatives of people from all walks of life struck a bell 14 times, symbolizing the 14 years of fight against Japanese aggressors by the Chinese people. The bell was cast with the words "Never forget national humiliation".
At 09:18, 14 cities in Liaoning sounded air raid sirens for three minutes, while vehicles came to a halt and honked their horns, and citizens were standing in silent tribute to mark this dark chapter in history. Ships and trains also sounded their sirens.
For years, China has kept marking the September 18 Incident.
The incident sparked Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
The 1931-1945 Japanese invasion caused more than 35 million casualties among Chinese troops and civilians, accounting for one third of the WWII casualties worldwide.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, China fought with two-thirds of Japan's army, making a major contribution to the allied victory in WWII.
China holds ceremony to mark 93rd anniversary of Sept 18 Incident
China holds ceremony to mark 93rd anniversary of Sept 18 Incident
China holds ceremony to mark 93rd anniversary of Sept 18 Incident
Members of the Shenzhou-19 crew aboard China's Tiangong Space Station successfully completed their second series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) at 01:12 (Beijing Time) on Tuesday, after performing multiple tasks including the installation of space debris protection devices and an extravehicular inspection.
Astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze worked for over eight hours to complete the tasks, with Cai and Song undertaking spacewalk duties. They were assisted by the space station's robotic arm and a team on Earth.
Song stepped out of Tiangong's Wentian lab module at 16:55 on Monday. Cai exited the module about two hours later to join Song on device installation tasks. Meanwhile, Wang stayed in the station's core module to provide support.
"The primary task is to install debris protection devices outside the module to safeguard its external cables from debris impact. Given the increasingly severe risk of space debris collisions in the orbital environment, we have carefully selected appropriate materials and made specialized designs. Additionally, the protection devices are designed to be easily and securely installed on the exterior of the space station, ensuring effective protection," said Li Zhihai, an aerospace engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
During their previous extravehicular mission in December, the Shenzhou-19 crew primarily installed protective devices for the external pipelines and cables of the Tianhe core module. Their second spacewalk put a focus on strengthening the Wentian lab module.
"Since the operational area for this mission differs from the previous one, the entire path planning process for the robotic arm must take into account the specific conditions around the Wentian module. It is essential to avoid any interference or collisions with the module itself or its solar panels. This requires maintaining a safe distance, which necessitates optimization in the design phase on the ground, along with extensive testing and validation," Li said.
The crew has completed all tasks smoothly and the two astronauts conducting the EVAs have returned to the Wentian lab module safely.
"The astronauts showed exceptional efficiency and speed throughout the entire process, and all installations were done perfectly," Li said.
The Shenzhou-19 crew have completed nearly half of their space journey and are scheduled to carry out a significant number of in-orbit scientific experiments and technological tests, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
Shenzhou-19 crew strengthens Tiangong station's debris protection in second spacewalk