Xinhua 2022:12:13.14:30
NANJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) — People in Nanjing observed a minute’s silence Tuesday as sirens sounded across the city as part of China’s ninth national commemoration ceremony honoring the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing massacre.
Despite the winter cold, thousands of people in mourning with white flowers on their chests attended the ceremony in Nanjing, capital of eastern Jiangsu Province. The national flag was flown at half-mast in front of the crowd.
At 10:01 a.m., sirens began to sound and the city came to a standstill. Motorists downtown stopped their cars and honked their horns while pedestrians paused to observe a minute’s silence in memory of the victims.
A group of teenagers read a statement calling for peace while community leaders rang the peace bell. A flock of white doves, symbolizing the hope for peace, was released by the Japanese invaders to fly over the plaza of the Nanjing Massacre Victims Memorial Hall.
The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops took the city on December 13, 1937. In one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II, they killed more than 300,000 civilians and unarmed Chinese soldiers in six weeks.
In 2014, China’s top legislature designated December 13 as the national day of remembrance for the victims of the Nanjing massacre.
Seven survivors of the massacre have died this year, bringing the total number of recorded survivors to 54, whose median age is over 92.
(Web Editor: Zhao Jian, 周雨)