Jiang Bin, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson

Question: It was reported that memorial activities were held across China on the 12th National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims. What’s your comment?

Jiang Bin: This year marks the 80th year of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, and the 88th year of the Nanjing Massacre. On December 13, 1937, Japanese aggressors invaded Nanjing and slaughtered 300,000 Chinese people, committing heinous crimes and making it one of the darkest pages in human history. These crimes could never be denied and justice should never be desecrated. The Japanese side should deeply reflect on the atrocities it committed against peoples of Asian countries including China, and stop all wrong actions in distorting and whitewashing its history of aggression.

On this National Memorial Day, we mourned our fallen compatriots and honored the revolutionary martyrs to demonstrate our strong commitment to remembering history and not losing track of the past, and to cherishing peace and creating a better future. The Chinese people and military will never allow the recurrence of historical tragedies. We will work together with peoples of regional countries to resolutely thwart the resurrection of the spectre of militarism, and jointly safeguard the hard-won peace.