STORY: China holds national commemoration for Nanjing Massacre victims
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 13, 2023
DATELINE: Dec. 13, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:48
LOCATION: NANJING, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the memorial ceremony to mourn the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre held on Wednesday in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province

STORYLINE:

The people of Nanjing observed a moment of silence, and sirens were heard across the city as China held a memorial ceremony on Wednesday to mourn the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

Despite the winter chill, thousands of people, dressed in dark attire, attended the 10th national memorial ceremony for the victims in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, with white flowers pinned to their chests.

China's national flag was flown at half-mast in front of the crowd, which included massacre survivors, local students and foreign friends.

At 10:01 a.m., sirens began to blare. Drivers in the downtown area stopped their cars and honked, while pedestrians paused for a moment of silence in remembrance of the victims.

In 2014, China's top legislature designated Dec. 13 as the national memorial day for the victims of the Nanjing Massacre, which took place when Japanese troops captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. The Japanese invaders brutally killed approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in over six weeks, marking one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.

As of this year, the number of registered Nanjing Massacre survivors has dwindled to just 38.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nanjing, China.
(XHTV)