PRESIDENT Xi Jinping said Saturday that no one can deny the Nanjing Massacre, as China for the first time held a national day of remembrance for victims of the Japanese wartime atrocities that killed 300,000 people.

    State media estimated 10,000 people attended a ceremony in Nanjing to mark the 77th anniversary of the massacre, including aging survivors — some in their 90s — of the Japanese invasion of the eastern city Dec. 13, 1937.

    The crowd sang a boisterous rendition of China’s national anthem at the ceremony broadcast live on CCTV State television, followed by a moment of silence, as a siren symbolizing grief blared and the Chinese flag flew at half-mast under clear skies.

    “Anyone who tries to deny the massacre will not be allowed by history, the souls of the 300,000 deceased victims, 1.3 billion Chinese people and all people loving peace and justice in the world,” Xi said in a speech at the ceremony.

    Xi called the massacre “a horrendous crime against humanity and a very dark page in the history of mankind.”

    Xi told survivors that to deny a crime was to repeat it, but he insisted that the ceremony was to promote peace, not prolong hatred.

    Later 3,000 doves symbolizing peace were released into the skies in memory of the victims.

    In February, the National People’s Congress made the anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre an official day of remembrance, along with Sept. 3 to mark the country’s victory against Japan in 1945.

    Invading Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then China’s capital, Dec. 13, 1937, and started a 40-odd-day slaughter. More than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were murdered and about 20,000 women were raped.(Xinhua)

    (Photo Highlights on P8)