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On December 13, Nanjing held a national monument to the victims of the Nanjing massacre. This is China’s seventh public memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing massacre since 2014.
After the Japanese army captured Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist government, on December 13, 1937, a six-week massacre began. China believes that around 300,000 Chinese civilians and prisoners of war were killed in that massacre.
The death toll in the Nanjing Massacre is a sensitive and controversial issue among Chinese and Japanese scholars, and it is also one of the historical issues affecting Sino-Japanese relations.
“New Age Requirements” for Sino-Japanese Relations
On Sunday (December 13), China celebrated the National Memorial Day for the victims of the Nanjing massacre.
China’s top leader Xi Jinping and other members of the Politburo Standing Committee did not attend the memorial ceremony in Nanjing. Some media said that China and Japan are now trying to improve their relations, and that China’s activities to mark the 83rd anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre are being carried out “quietly.”
Chen Xi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and head of the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said at a public ceremony in Nanjing that China “remembers history and never forgets the past” and that China ” it adheres to multilateralism and opposes unilateralism. ”
When it comes specifically to Japan-China relations, Chen Xi said he hopes to build a China-Japan relationship that “conforms to the requirements of the new era” and promote the development of bilateral relations in the “right direction of peace, friendship and cooperation. ”
Russia and China “jointly warn Japan”?
Another event that attracted attention during the anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre in China this year was the China Anti-Japanese War Memorial and the Russian Embassy in China co-sponsored the thematic exhibition “Patriotic War in the Lens of Female Photojournalists”.
Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov told reporters at the ceremony that China and the Soviet Union were the two most damaged countries in World War II, so the two countries appreciate peace in particular.
Denisov said: “The Chinese say, do not forget the original intention, and I mean on behalf of the Russians that we should not forget the original intention either. This is true.”
Tetsushi Takahashi, a Nikkei reporter in Beijing, said the Russian ambassador repeated the words “Do not forget the original intention” said by China’s top leader Xi Jinping. warning”.
The photographic exhibition held at the Anti-Japanese War Memorial includes 107 photographs taken by 7 Soviet photojournalists during the Soviet-German War, showing the war front lines, the victory parade, and the post-war reconstruction. Russian Ambassador Denisov, on behalf of the Russian government, presented the Museum of the Anti-Japanese War with a commemorative medal for the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War handwritten by President Putin.
China and the Soviet Union formed a military alliance in 1950, and the military alliance between the two countries lasted 10 years. Last summer, Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Moscow and announced the establishment of a broader strategic partnership with Russian President Putin.
In October this year, Putin hinted that although it is not necessary, Russia and China can form a military alliance, which has again attracted the attention of all parties.
Is Japan building an “Asian version of NATO”?
However, Tetsushi Takahashi believes that Japan currently maintains good relations with China and Russia. He believes that to balance the pressure from the United States, China can also hope to further develop relations with Japan.
In late November, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Japan and resumed the exchange of high-level visits between the two countries that had been interrupted by the new corona epidemic.
However, the “Japan Times” reported that Japan’s “free and open Indo-Pacific policy” has awakened Beijing’s vigilance. China accuses Japan and its regional partners of working hard to develop a collective security organization against China.
Australian Prime Minister Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who visited Japan on November 17, announced that they have reached an agreement in principle on the “Reciprocal Access Agreement” to enhance military cooperation between the two countries, forming a paramilitary alliance. Japanese and Australian officials stated that the two sides’ increased defense cooperation is in response to escalating disputes and tensions in the South China Sea and the East China Sea.
However, Japanese officials insist that the “free and open Indo-Pacific policy” is not aimed at China. However, China believes that the “Reciprocal Access Agreement” between Japan and Australia violates the spirit of Japan’s “Constitution of Peace”.
According to a report by the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Japan and Australia are allies of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region. Strengthening military cooperation between the two countries will add instability to the Asia-Pacific region and jeopardize regional peace and security.