China commemorated the anniversary of the massacre by Japanese soldiers in 1937 as tensions rose over Taiwan.
China has held a low-key memorial service for the Nanjing Massacre political crisis Beijing and Tokyo continue to boil over Taiwan.
President Xi Jinping did not attend a ceremony on Saturday to commemorate the 1937 attack, in which China says Imperial Japanese forces massacred 300,000 people in the eastern city of Nanjing.
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The post-World War II Allied Tribunal put the death toll at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese politicians and scholars deny that the massacre took place. China and Japan have long feuded over their painful history.
Japanese Prime Minister Sane Takaichi angered Beijing last month when he predicted a hypothetical Chinese attack on the self-ruled island of Taiwan. military response From Japan.
Doves flew over the National Memorial Center in Nanjing after the ceremony, which was completed in less than half an hour, was attended by police officers and school children.
Xi Taifeng, head of the ruling Communist Party’s powerful Organization Department, made far less combative remarks than recent rhetoric from Chinese government officials.
“History has proven that any attempt to revive militarism, challenge the post-war international order, or undermine world peace and stability will never be tolerated by all peace-loving and justice-seeking people around the world and will fail.”
He did not mention Takaichi but referred to earlier claims by China that the Japanese leader wanted to revive the country’s history of militarism.
On Saturday, China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command posted on its social media accounts a picture of a large bloody sword, used by many Chinese soldiers during the war, slicing off the head of a Japanese army hat-wearing skeleton.
“For nearly 1,000 years, the dwarves of the East have been bringing trouble; a sea of blood and deep hatred still lies before our eyes,” it said, using an old expression for Japan.
Dispute over Taiwan
Last month, Japan’s Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi announced Tokyo is moving ahead with plans to deploy the missile system on the country’s westernmost island of Yonaguni, 110km (68 miles) off Taiwan’s east coast, which has hosted a Japanese military base since 2016.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs blasted the announcement, describing Japan’s plan as a “deliberate attempt to stoke regional tensions and provoke military conflict”. Koizumi pushed back, saying the Type 03 guided missile system is purely defensive and “intended to counter aircraft and missiles attacking our nation.”
Beijing considers Taiwan its own territory and has vowed to link the island to the Chinese mainland, an aspiration that Taipei says violates its sovereignty and only Taiwanese citizens can decide their future.
The two countries have since accused each other of fighting, with Japan summoning China’s ambassador earlier this month over an incident involving a Chinese military aircraft. Reportedly locked the fire-control radar twice On Japanese fighter planes.
Lighting aircraft with radar signals a possible attack that can force the target aircraft to take evasive measures, making it one of the most dangerous actions taken by military aircraft.
For its part, the Chinese embassy rejected Tokyo’s claims and said in a statement, “China seriously demands that Japan stop humiliating and slandering, strictly curb its frontline actions and prevent the recurrence of similar incidents”.
Beijing has summoned Japan’s ambassador. wrote to the United NationsCitizens were urged to avoid travel to Japan and renewed Ban on imports of Japanese seafoodCultural events featuring Japanese artists and films has also been hit.