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China marks anniversary of massacre in Nanjing

Sirens sounded and Chinese students stood at attention yesterday to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan's notorious wartime massacre of civilians in the city of Nanjing.

The commemoration, which comes as China's government pushes to improve relations with Tokyo and avoid inflaming nationalist passions at home, brought the city to a standstill, state TV showed.

The city reopened a vastly expanded memorial to the victims of the massacre long known in the West as the "Rape of Nanking."

Air raid sirens blared at 10am, followed by a moment of silence, and new artifacts testifying to the savagery of Japan's Imperial Army went on display in the memorial's collection.

The official Xinhua news agency said residents passed a peace declaration calling "all the peace-loving people to be united in building a peaceful, harmonious and reconciliatory new world."

In line with the move to boost relations with Japan, reports on the anniversary and commemorations have been understated, avoiding mention of long-standing demands for greater displays of contrition from Tokyo.

That comes amid plans for Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) to visit Japan next year -- the first visit by a Chinese head of state in a decade. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is also expected to visit China soon.

The events that began on Dec. 13, 1937, in Nanjing are still the subject of debate and controversy.

Angered by resistance as they invaded central China, Japanese troops began a rampage that many historians generally agree ended with the slaughter of at least 150,000 civilians and disarmed soldiers and the rape of tens of thousands of women in Nanjing, then the capital of China's Nationalist government.

China puts the number killed at 300,000, making it one of the worst atrocities of the World War II era. The official interpretation of the event as a "national shame" is used in schools and propaganda to rally Chinese behind the communist government, whose policies are portrayed as keeping China strong.
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