China commemorates Nanjing Massacre victims with nationwide memorial activities

Memorial activities were held across China on Friday to remember the victims of the Nanjing Massacre and China's revolutionary martyrs.

The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the then-Chinese capital on Dec. 13, 1937. Over the course of six weeks, they proceeded to kill approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

A decade ago, China's top legislature designated Dec. 13 as the national memorial day for the victims of the atrocities.

In Shenyang City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, over 300 people gathered at the 9.18 Historical Museum to pay tribute to those who died in the war and pray for peace. The museum documents the September 18 Incident in 1931, at which Japanese troops began the bloody invasion of China.

"In this new era, we must inherit and carry forward the great spirit of resistance. We will transform our patriotism into a determination to strengthen our nation, dedicating ourselves to our studies and work to contribute to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," said Ren Qingyang, a student at the Liaoning Medical Vocational College.

In the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, the former headquarters of Unit 731, a notorious Second World War Japanese germ-warfare unit, reopened to the public on Friday, with nearly 2,100 items on display including archives, historical materials, relics and publications.

Visitors laid flowers at the martyrs' name wall to remember the victims of the germ-warfare activities.

Commemorations also took place at memorials and museums in Shanxi, Hubei, Jilin, Jiangxi, and Anhui provinces, where people reflected on history and honored the memory of revolutionary martyrs. The Yan'an Revolution Memorial Hall in Shaanxi Province hosted an exhibition on the 13 years of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in Yan'an from 1935 to 1948, displaying historical artifacts and photographs that highlighted the Party's early struggles.

Educational activities for younger generations were held nationwide with students learning about revolutionary history at the Ranzhuang Tunnel Warfare Memorial Hall in Baoding City, Hebei Province, while children in Chongqing Municipality explored a historic air-raid tunnel. Similar events took place in Shandong, Henan, and Sichuan provinces.

Soldiers and officials of the People's Liberation Army also held solemn ceremonies in their barracks to remember the victims of the Nanjing Massacre and revolutionary martyrs, vowing to uphold the spirit of resistance and strengthen their commitment to defending the nation.

"As soldiers in this new era, we should remember this tragic history and transform it into a powerful motivation for training and combat preparedness. We will carry forward the revolutionary fighting spirit and hone our combat skills to contribute to the practice of strengthening the military," Chen Xing a soldier in a unit under PLA Central Theater Command.

China commemorates Nanjing Massacre victims with nationwide memorial activities

A Chinese envoy on Friday called on the related countries to immediately and unconditionally unfreeze and fully return the overseas assets of Afghanistan so as to support the country's efforts to enhance its people's wellbeing.

Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to United Nations, made the call at a UN Security Council meeting where Resolution 2763 (2024) was unanimously adopted, which extends for 14 months the mandate of the team monitoring sanctions against the Taliban and associated individuals and entities that threaten Afghanistan's peace, stability and security.

In the resolution, the Security Council decided that the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team will continue to support the Security Council Committee established pursuant to Resolution 1988 (2011), a subsidiary body in charge of overseeing the implementation of sanctions regime on the Taliban.

China hopes the monitoring team will actively perform its duties in accordance with its mandate under the resolution and strongly support the Security Council Committee's work, and China supports the monitoring team to increase engagements with the Afghan interim government and looks forward to an early visit by the team to the country, Geng said.

"The resolution reaffirms the need to help Afghanistan meet its economic and humanitarian challenges, restore its banking and financial system, and utilize the assets of the Afghan central bank for the benefit of the Afghan people. China urges the countries concerned to immediately and unconditionally unfreeze and return in full Afghanistan's overseas assets, stop imposing illegal unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan, and support Afghanistan's efforts to improve its people's livelihood," he said.

The Chinese diplomat stressed that the resolution affirmed the necessity of reviewing the 1988 sanctions regime and the Security Council's sanctions should help promote peace and stability of Afghanistan.

Noting that the Afghan Taliban has been in power for more than three years, the situations in Afghanistan is generally stable and the rest of the world is increasing engagements with the authorities, Geng called on timely changes to the sanction regime in accordance with the development of the situation.

As a first step, the Security Council should put back into place exemptions to the travel ban for persons associated with the Afghan interim government so as to create conditions for the international community to strengthen engagement and communication with the country, the envoy said.

Geng pointed out as the resolution also reiterated that the territory of Afghanistan should not be used for supporting terrorism or for threatening the security of other countries, China urges the Afghan authorities to implement the requests of the resolution and strengthen the counter-terrorism efforts.

China urges unfreezing, returning Afghanistan's overseas assets