The Shanghai Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) wants to expand the memorial that commemorates the city's fight against Japanese aggression 75 years ago, according to a report the committee released Tuesday.
The report suggests several measures to remind residents about the battle between roughly 750,000 Chinese and 300,000 Japanese soldiers in 1937. The battle was the largest of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).
"We should have a memorial that shows Shanghai's contribution in World War II, like the ones in Berlin and Moscow," said Ma Eyun, the report's author and member of the committee.
From August 13, 1937 to November 12, 1937, some 300,000 Japanese soldiers, 400 warplanes and dozens of warships fought against 750,000 Chinese troops in Shanghai. Some 40,000 Japanese and 300,000 Chinese soldiers were injured or killed in the battle.
The report suggested that Shanghai should upgrade the current memorial in the vein of other internationally renowned World War II memorials. It advised that the memorial consist of a plaza, a memorial hall and a stone tablet with the names of the dead soldiers carved into it, coupled with a collection of weaponry and equipment from two armies.
The current 3,500-square-meter memorial is located in Linjiang Park in northern suburban district of Baoshan, where the main battle took place. It illustrates the battle through pictures, videos and equipment from the time, according to the memorial's website.
The report also urged the city to build a mausoleum and relocate the monument for the hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers who died during the resistance.
In the report, Ma and her team found about 100 battle sites from the war that are not well protected or completely unprotected.
"We found the Sihang warehouse, where hundreds of Chinese soldiers killed more than 200 Japanese invaders and resisted for four days, is now used as office and commercial building, surrounded by billboards. It only has 40 square meters of exhibition space to tell the story of what happened there to the few people who visit," Ma told the Global Times.
The committee has decided to put the suggestions into a proposal for the next year's two sessions meeting.