China holds ceremony to mark Sino-Japan war

"In 1937, Japanese forces that had been in China’s northeast since 1905 provoked a clash with Chinese soldiers at the Marco Polo Bridge by trying to enter the city of Wanping near Beijing."

The Japanese forces should never have been in China in the first place.

Get over it China and stop trying to use 70 year old history as an excuse and cover for your current aggressive behavior.

"Museum of the War of the Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression"

Should be renamed the : "Museum of the War of the Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression That We Will Mention at Every Opportunity"

Most nation celebrate the end of a war. China wants to rehash the memories it seems. Get over it. The guilty parties are dead! Common soldiers followed orders.

And talk about "beautify the history of aggression"! China, what do you do monthly? Antagonize neighboring nations!

After Xi spoke, a group of schoolchildren at the event chanted a promise to “remember history, cherish peace, not forget the shame of the nation and realize the Chinese dream.”

This sounds so beautiful, it brings tears to your eyes. Now what are they singing about when mentioning the shame of the nation? The great leap forward? Mao tse Tung killing millions of his fellow men, annexing Tibet, the ruthless massacre at Tiananmen Square, the never ending international provocations? Answer that one please, Xi.

Good. The atrocities Japan committed, and continues to deny, should never be forgotten.

Hatred-induced vicious cycles can only increase the sufferings of these two peoples.

"The atrocities Japan committed, and continues to deny, should never be forgotten."

I don't think many on this site will disagree with you. And while Japanese officials might be playing into their hands the Chinese leadership has engaged in an overt, over the top and at times just plain nutty propaganda campaign that may be popular at home but has the international community shaking their heads.

Living in the past and having a chip on the shoulder. Sad reality need to move on.

How time has changed. It may seem strange today but Mao Zedong discouraged public discourse about the Japanese invasion and waived reparations. During his reign, Nanking was far from becoming Chinese target for Japanese brutality. Why Japan became a easy target? This was when new communist leaders, transforming their country into a market economy, first began to face the problems of uneven growth, which included social unrest on a huge scale. China became desperate to boost their credibility after the killings of many unarmed protestors near Tiananmen Square in 1989, and images of the deliberate and vicious Japanese came in handy. Honoring the memories of Sino-Japanese War became main focus to the post-Cold War Chinese strategy of finding new foils internationally and fresh ideological legitimacy at home.

As in China, anti-Japanese nationalism in South Korea has a potentially large constituency and is a focus of national identity. But it coexists in uneasy symbiosis with extreme inequality and unemployment. But Park may discover that in an unequal and fractious country, anti-Japanese nationalism remains the best way to orchestrate national unity. South Korea seems to be following the pattern of China.

It is strange how short China's memory is. They seem to forget they twice tried ti Invade Japan with huge fleets of bloodthirsty warriors and ruled over their own people with an iron hand for hundreds if not thousands of years, subjegating most of the Chinese people to a live of endless toil supporting an elite..a situation not unsimilar to Modern China. Now China is trying to drag out history to support its rampant aggressive attempt to take over the entire Pacific by attacking and trying to seize iconic territory..most of the sites they try to seize tho many are resource rich, are largely symbolic and attempts to find a suitable target to bully the home nation, they are doing the same thing with Vietnam, Thailland, the Phillipines, and all of their neighbors not just Japan.

The case of Japan is one of the silliest for the islands in question are OWNED by Japan and PART of Japan already. The western press and China try to make it an issue of disagreement but the bottom line fact is that the Senkoku islands ARE part of JAPAN. Period. World War II is long over, most of the particpants long passed away. Japan is a very differnt nation today..and a fine and outstanding example of a modern sophisticated nation for all to see who have eyes to see reality.

Japan imperial army are bad egg. i feel shamed as a japanese citizen.

Get over it China and stop trying to use 70 year old history as an excuse and cover for your current aggressive behavior.

Ossan -- admittedly, China's motives in all this are suspect, to say the least. But, on the other hand, if you have ever been to the museum at Yasakuni, you can't really argue with his basic point:

President Xi Jinping criticized people who “beautify the history of aggression”

Japan has no one else to blame but itself that China, SK, the U.S. Congress, and even President Obama are having problems with the manner in which it is trying to equivacate/rationalize events like the comfort women.

Imperial Russia took a huge part of China's land in the northeast, which to this day still forms a huge chunk of Siberia. Since they got their lands back from Japan almost 70 years ago, I have to wonder why they don't seem to peep up much about the Russian land-grab which still affects them.

jerseyboyJul. 08, 2014 - 09:25AM JST "Get over it China and stop trying to use 70 year old history as an excuse and cover for your current aggressive behavior."

Ossan -- admittedly, China's motives in all this are suspect, to say the least. But, on the other hand, if you have ever >been to the museum at Yasakuni, you can't really argue with his basic point:

Jerseyboy I have been to the Yuushuukan. I found the military collection there very impressive. The Zero in the front was very interesting to see. China's harping on WWII is getting old and boring. There isn't one western nation that shares China's position and that includes all the WWII allied victor nations who actually fought Imperial Japan, instead of stealing the country from Nationalist China.

Jerseyboy I have been to the Yuushuukan. I found the military collection there very impressive.

Ossan, if that is all you took away from Yasakuni, then you are blind to the point, and always will be, that China and others are trying to make, even if in a very clumsy and self-serving manner. The point I was trying to make is best expressed in this quote from Wikipedia:

Yasukuni Shrine's museum and web site have made statements blaming the United States for "forcing" Japan into World War II and claiming that Japan went to war to create a "co-prosperity sphere" for all Asians. Critics say this is the same propaganda used by the wartime imperial Japanese regime.

So, really, who still harping on 70 year-old propaganda?

Japan suffered big enough after WWII because of the nukes dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and was heavily demilitarized after their fall. They did everything they could to maintain peace with their pacifist constitution that every Japanese citizen enjoyed until you made disruption in the Pacific region! I hope you also remember what happened in Tianenmen Square where you murdered your own citizens and not only the Sino-Japanese war if that's what you want.

A little history lesson.

The location where the President spoke, the memorial hall, is the exact same place where then Japanese prime minister Koizumi visited in 2000, to offer atonement and apology for Japan's aggression towards China.

Of course, most likely this has already been erased from the public record and consciousness. You see, Japan has "neeeever" apologized to China.

Sometimes people seem to not understand why China is always patrolling Senkaku. They dont care about Senkakus resources. But they see 8t as an excuse to maintain tensions with Japan and portrit Japanese people as devils.

Stupid Japanese, without truely apologize, China and S.Korea will get it freshed just like happened yesterday for ever. And Japan will knee on this for ever.

The more tension on this, the more focus on this among international society, the more reputation will be consumed here.

Learn from the past, don't punish the present and the future.....

It's easy for you to say "China move on!" but don't forget many Chinese(maybe millions) who lost their parents in the war are still alive, the deep scar caused by the Japanese atrocities is on their hearts. Hatred felling or words toward Japanese is very common in a vengeful China and with CCP's propaganda and Abe's confrontation policy towards China makes the situation worse it's like put the oil into fire, it's very very dangerous, China is a formidable country now with a huge economy and military, a continental sized land and 1.3 b people many of them want revenge for japan ,a war with China is unimaginable and hell for all asian people because China will go to all lengths towards Japan for a revenge.

The Chinese regime is doing the same thing Abe and the right-wing in Japan are doing, PLAYING TO THEIR BASE. Do you think either side really cares how it's viewed by the rest because if they did they wouldn't bother doing it. The Japanese still commemorate the Russo-Japanese war which ended 110 years ago so who is calling the kettle black?

China is beating the drums of solidarity and with a nation as large as theirs, you need to keep the minions focused on something other than what's really ailing. It seems the leaders of the communist party have plenty to work with these days thanks to remarks of those playing the same game on this side of the sea.

All aggression, oppression and murder by any group should not be dismissed lightly or forgotten, not should there be moralizing about which act was worse, in order to stake the higher ground. All nations are created out of and sustained by various forms of violence and we need to be vigilant to how political and economic elite use these forms for their own benefit in the name of the citizenry and how we let this happen.

Now Get over it!! China should to stop trying to use 70 year old history as an excuse and cover for your current aggressive behavior against East Turkistan, Tibet, Mongolia and the South Sea neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Phillippines, and also the dispute with Japan in East China Sea.

jerseyboyJul. 08, 2014 - 10:16AM JST "Jerseyboy I have been to the Yuushuukan. I found the military collection there very impressive." Ossan, if that is all you took away from Yasakuni, then you are blind to the point, and always will be, that China and >others are trying to make, even if in a very clumsy and self-serving manner. The point I was trying to make is best >expressed in this quote from Wikipedia: Yasukuni Shrine's museum and web site have made statements blaming the United States for "forcing" Japan into World War II and claiming that Japan went to war to create a "co-prosperity sphere" for all Asians. Critics say this is the same propaganda used by the wartime imperial Japanese regime. So, really, who still harping on 70 year-old propaganda?

I have read every English sign in Yuushuukan and have never seen anything stating that the US. "forced" Japan into WWII. There is little or no mention of the United States at all. In act, the nearest thing to what that paragraph describes is several references to the advancement of European colonialism in the early 2oth century, and Britain is the one country that is named. Since I have been there and you haven't, why don't you go there and see for yourself. Anyone who needs to quote Wikipedia to support heir claims has no credibility, as even I have made several contributions to Wikipedia myself. In other words anyone can write and alter it. So who is harping on WWII propaganda? Does Japan make WWII an official diplomatic and political issue with any country? Does Japan harp on the A-bombs incessantly when dealing with the U.S? Does Japan harp on the 2,000,000 Japanese POWs that the USSR held imprisoned for decades after WWII ended? And do the victorious Allied powers harp on WWII issues ion dealing with Japan? The answer is no. Not even Taiwan which is the Republic of China. So jerseboy, go to Japan and see these things for yourself and decide.

I think jerseyboy is talking about information in Japanese. Not in English.

Everyone knows very well by now only China and S. Korean can't move on regardless. If current China is honorable and good, what they say may have convincing values. Heck, bad egg Japan was defeated long time. It understood its place in the world and became a good egg already. Bad egg China on the other hand is still harboring its secret wish of world domination and has been scheming to strike when time is ripe. What China needs is a dosage of defeat like Japan did and maybe it'll become a good citizen of the world. But then again the scheming may be part of culture and upbringing. After being defeated, it may still go back to its scheming way because "for a gentleman seeking revenge, ten years is not too late" as it was working on its strategy gingerly over the years.

Great, I guess the 7 July 1937 anniversary has reached the point where it "kicks off" the annual six-week summer build-up to the anniversaries of the atomic bombings and then the day of Japan's surrender on 15 August 1945 and the endless speculation of "Will he or won't he?"--that is will the Japanese PM visit Yasukuni Shrine. The annual summer drama surrounding 15 August appears to have become WAY more important than it was years ago and that's just very unfortunate. For good measure, 15 August (1974, 40th anniversary this year) is also the anniversary of the day that Park Geun-Hye's mother was murdered by a DPRK-supporting Korean-Japanese.

President Xi needs Japan to at least acknowledge that he is correct so he can save face, but all he keeps getting is egg on his face. So, President Xi is getting desperate and he continues to escalate the row, but the more he escalates the more egg he gets on his face.

He is so desperate and will stoop at anything to try and make points. Now, every chance Communist China gets they take some shots at Japan no matter what the occasion.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/23/us-china-germany-idUSBREA1M12520140223

Xi's desperation to push his agenda is taking this row from silliness to the ridiculous. The true victim of all this has been historical facts. First off the Marco Polo Bridge incident was fought by KMT forces and not the CPC.

At that time the CPC and KMT had agreed to a ceasefire but their armies weren't one nor did they trust each other. But the way Communist China's propaganda machine tells it the KMT and CPC were the same force. I won't be surprised if they completely erase the KMT from their history books and claim that Mao was also fighting at the bridge.

I can see it now, Mao leading his small band of Spar.....errrr, no his small band of 300 CPC soldiers against the mighty armies of General Xerxes of Japan. It will be coming to a theater near you. Might be silly, but it's as silly as what Communist China is spinning.

Here is some more silliness from the CPC propaganda department.

While Angela Merkel is in China on a trade visit the Chinese tried to get her involved in this China-Japan row by making silly references to WWII.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/china-criticizes-japans-wartime-past-during-merkels-visit-1404736664?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304642804580014862274917980.html

Communist China is pushing their silly propaganda as hard as they can and couldn't careless if no one really cares to hear it.

there is still a minority group of people who ignore historical facts, who ignore the tens of thousands of lives >lost in the war, who go against the tide of history and deny and even beautify the history of aggression

Funny that, coming from a regime that whitewashes their own records of massacre against their own people, much more recent than 70 years ago - Tiananmen anyone? - and talk about the "tide" of history: aren't communist, totalitarian regimes supposed to be a threatened species?

Having read the so many threads on the comment section, i am aware of many weird comments that people often make:

1) the most common comment people make is that the Chinese communist regime killed many Chinese people. For example people would raise Tiananmen massacre, great leap forward, etc. While this is absolutely true, the fact that Chinese government wronged its own people does not justify any military aggression from foreign countries. It does not make sense to say, "hey chinese government kill people too so whats wrong with other people killing chinese?" Both issues must be dealt with but must be dealt with separately.

2) secondly, most people said that the japanese government already apologised on many occasions for any act of war done during the WW2 and therefore it should not be mentioned anymore and should "move on" and "look into the future". I believe that many people in China are aware of these facts. However I think the main problem is that the japanese government swayed back and forth on some issues including issues of comfort women, the attitude of Abe towards war criminals (such as saying that war criminals are not criminals under domestic laws). These problems issues are not simply a question of history. This would be an over-simplification. In fact, it extends to questions regarding the attitude, thoughts, identity and understanding of the modern generation of the japanese people by people around the world. It would be unfair to just dismiss the topic by simply saying "oh, its more propaganda" because there is much more to look into.

3) Thirdly, many people would often say that japan is a country that loves peace and look, japan has a pacifist constitution. Though the people seems to be powerless in front of the japanese government's decisions to relax arm sales and expansion of army operations. However I must clarify that I personally believe that it is justifiable for japan to expand army in front of the chinese expanding military existence. It is not the army that is dangerous. It is the people who use the army that is the most dangerous. The attitude, behavior, re-interpretation of the constitutions by the japanese government are all factors that truly determine whether Japan can continue to be a peace loving member in the Asia-Pacifc.

@LechatBotte,

Before you blame the USA Nuclear bombing, did you blame the Gov't for the victims of civial war before Meiji Ishin ?

They are totally defferent!

Some here and around the world just don't get it.

There's a reason why the Chinese government has been more than vocal about this issue the past few years, and it's simply because it's trying to flex its muscle and intimidate all things Japan.

It's less about truly remembering the past and atrocities, and more about using the past as an excuse to garner world wide support and sympathy against Japan. All this bickering, name calling, and posturing, and childish games like yucking it up with the SK government, it's all about trying to shame and bully Japan.

Like I always say, there is a right time and place, and right way to do these things. Never have I said we should never remember past atrocities. Nor have I ever said that Japan is innocent of past wrong doings.

Who said anything about blaming anyone or justifying anything. My point is first, being the Chinese Communist Party and invoking Universal Human Principles to harass Japan is just comical at best knowing their own record in the matter. My other point being a reference - arguable - to Francis Fukushima discussing the 'end of history' with the fall of communism in Europe. If someone's going against the tide of history, it's the CCP. They should be go e already

And China are totally squeaky clean of course,

Quick! The fire of Anti-Japan sentiment is fading, pour more oil! Nothing distracts more from national problems like government-fueled hatred against Japan.

They do not feel the value to history. Just, they are just using convenient history at good to that themself. The Japan has been criticized from Communist peoples organization in Japan and Korea and China. Because, When China begins to claim sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands, it is after of investigation the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East in 1968 of (ECAFE). This investigation study had been suggested to oil and natural gas are buried into near by Senkaku Islands. They wanted them since 1968. Motion of all anti-Japanese to order to execute them, it is information incitement to do reduce the country of Alliance of defend Japan. For this purpose in all the world, Anti-Japanese movement has been carried out on an ongoing basis in the ally of Japan mainly.

Do not forget that it by the instigation of the information, the Philippines kicked the U.S. military Support. For this reason, Philippines Islands has been invaded by China now. How long South and North Korea and a part of world peoples is continue the puppet of China? ,,,forever ? I think this situation will such not change for the time being to get half of the Pacific Ocean by China.

If Japan and nearly all Japanese choose to ignore history, then it is up to the victims of Imperial Japan to remember what happened.

If, like most Germans, Japanese openly admitted what happened in the war, it might be easier for the victims to forgive

"Suga said China's attempt to dredge up the wartime history and turn it into an international issue was unnecessary and not helpful in building peace and cooperation in the region".

Well...Discussing History is so important to Chinese leaders that you can not discuss such long ago events as Tiananmen Square Massacre a very distant 25 years ago nor the Great Leap Forward 53 years ago. I mean, what fun is talking about history if it is Chinese slaughtering Chinese. OOPS...Forgot the Cultural Revolution 48 years ago. Another non topic for non history

Since I have been there and you haven't, why don't you go there and see for yourself.

Ossan -- huh? I lived in Japan for ten years, and visited Yasakuni on several occassions, most times with Japanese friends/acquaitances. So I feel I got a very good sense of the place. (I used the Wikipedia quote simply so it would not be simply my opinion) You, on the other hand, have been to Japan a couple of times as a tourist and simply remember the plane out front. But from that, you declare yourself an expert on all things Japan. Which, as ProudJapanese points out, you clearly are not:

I think jerseyboy is talking about information in Japanese. Not in English.

LOL.

No more bickering please.

China's harping on WWII is getting old and boring.

Then folks should just let China do what it's going to do with these remembrances and refuse to comment on them. it is precisely because some Japanese (and nominal Japanese supporters) make an issue out of it that gives each of these threads their steam.

What China has been successfully doing is bringing the anti-Chinese feeling among many Japanese to the surface. On my last visit to Japan, I noted how many books are being sold that promote negative feelings for China. I think China is correct to be concerned.

"Suga said China's attempt to dredge up the wartime history and turn it into an international issue was unnecessary and was not helpful in building peace and cooperation in the region." Japan is a nation that puts the past behind it and does not give any absolute value to anything that goes beyond everyday experiences, living the permanent "now" , which would translate into a collective sense of amnesia, coming from the fact that a build-up of past experiences, which would be anchored firmly in the cosciousness of the people, does not function as a source of judegment to go with in making a value judgement on anything going on in the public realm of politics. The first thing that crosses the minds of the Japanese when they think of July 7 is "Star Festival" Chinese in origin. What segment of the Japanese population would t go out of their ways to think of the Marco Polo Incident in conjunction with the date? The Japanese could be likened to those who live from hand to mouth, from day to day in spirit, living the permanent "now", leading the Japanese to react to a reaction emotionally only in terms of whether they like it or not. Japan is an emotional, asopposed to intellectual, society. That is why Mr. Suga said dredging up the wartime history was unnecessary.

Japan is a nation that puts the past behind it

Japan is like a lot of nations, including the US, which tries to mythologize the past. They don't want to believe they are capable of horrendous brutality, mythologizing helps to maintain that illusion. (I think it was JFK who said that it was not the lie that is the enemy of the truth, but the myth.)

The Japanese could be likened to those who live from hand to mouth, from day to day in spirit, living the permanent "now"

This is fine until the subject turns to an historical event. Then, intellectual integrity demands looking at evidence, of which eyewitness accounts of people who experienced things directly carry a lot of weight.

How funny when people think China should forget the history without mentioning Japanese leaders trying to make this memory fresh by regularly visiting Yasukuni Shrine to glorify the war criminals.

waterloongJul. 09, 2014 - 02:25AM JST How funny when people think China should forget the history without mentioning Japanese leaders trying to make this memory fresh by regularly visiting Yasukuni Shrine to glorify the war criminals.

Can you point out when these politicians were calling Communist China any names while visiting the shrine?

The Japanese could be likened to those who live from hand to mouth, from day to day in spirit, living the permanent "now", leading the Japanese to react to a reaction emotionally only in terms of whether they like it or not. Japan is an emotional, asopposed to intellectual, society. That is why Mr. Suga said dredging up the wartime history was unnecessary.

How can someone be intellectual when they are dealing with childish propaganda? If Communist China wanted to be treaty as a mature nation it should start acting mature.

When one deals with immature childish tactics one must act like the parent and here Japan is scolding the child for it's silliness.

I see that we have some new faces here. Welcome and remember when you post make sure to follow the party TPMs.

July 11,2014 5:00p.m= Rana Mitter said Xi's speech fit into a pattern of attempts by China to highlight Chinese wartime resistance against Japan to inspire patriotic fervor.< I would not deny the way Rana Mitter gave a historical account of China's attempts to highlight wartime resistance against Japan. From the perspective of the current communist government leaders who were born after Japan's surrender and who have got where they are , riding on the coattails of the first-generation resistance fighters, making an enemy out of Japan by rubbing it in whenever they have problems at home from which to get the people's attention away, they know from experience it pays to do anything to stoke anti-Japanese sentiments. The more income divide between rich and poor, between rural areas and coastal urban regions, the more they would feel need to bash Japan, I am afraid. What can be done to put a period to cycles of accusation and counter-accusaion put down to jingoistic nationalism? Mr. Abe said he made the visit to Yasukuni to pray for world peace , determinedthat Japan would not go to war again. If he meant what he said, the best he could do to put the bilareral relations at their worst back on track, would be make an official visit to Nanjing War Museum to put a human face on Japan's repeated apologies for wartime atrocities, followimng in the footsteps of German chancellar Cohl. Abe could do that, getting the most out of his political capital. It would do the trick.

China should leave the past alone while she builds up her military. I'd certainly support a strong, remilitarized Japan. The Japanese are an example of discipline and dedication recognized by all the world.