Nanjing Massacre 75th Anniversary and the China-Japan Island Dispute

Extract

What war memorial date does December call to mind? To many in Japan, it is probably December 8, the day the Asia-Pacific War began. But there is another date not to be forgotten, particularly this winter. December 13, 2012 was the 75th anniversary of the capture of Nanjing by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1937. It was a day when the Japanese nation was carried away with a sense of victory, with lantern parades being held across the nation. Meanwhile, in Nanjing, one of the cruelest series of atrocities in history was taking place – the Nanjing Massacre. The gruesome series of crimes – mass executions of Chinese POWs; murders of ordinary citizens who were alleged to be disarmed soldiers or soldiers wearing civilian clothing; murders of local residents, men and women, young and old, within the city and neighbouring villages; rape and murder of women, young and old; looting and arson – continued beyond mid-February of 1938 when the battle of Nanjing ended, and only came to an end around the time when the Reformed Government of the Republic of China under Japanese hegemony was established at the end of March, 1938.