From The Christian Science Monitor:
Seventy years after Japanese troops killed tens of thousands – probably hundreds of thousands – of Chinese civilians and prisoners of war in a six-week orgy of violence here, Thursday’s commemoration of their deaths illustrated how deeply woven the massacre still is into the fabric of Sino-Japanese relations.
Anxious to improve ties with Tokyo, the Chinese government sent only junior officials to a ceremony unveiling a refurbished museum documenting the event. None addressed the crowd of invited students, soldiers, and construction workers.
“There isn’t nearly the attention seen in previous years” in the state-run press, says Russell Leigh Moses, an analyst in Beijing. “There seems to have been a deliberate effort to downplay” the anniversary “tied into the state of Sino-Japanese relations and hopes for their future.” [Full Text]
Read also Reevaluating the Rape of Nanjing by Coco Masters, and Lin Boyao: in memory of Nanjing Massacre from China Daily.
