Chinese group demands apology for Nanjing Massacre

BEIJING - The Japanese government has been asked to apologize to the victims in the Nanjing Massacre and their surviving dependents and to pay suitable compensation.

The China Federation of Demanding Compensation from Japan, a non-governmental group, made their demand days ahead of China's first National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims on Dec 13.

In a letter addressed to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe via Japanese Ambassador to China Kitera Masato, the CFDC also demanded that his government apologize to all those murdered by Japanese troops during the World War II.

Japan invaded northeast China in September 1931, followed by a full-scale invasion on July 7, 1937. Around 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed or injured during the war, which continued until 1945.

Japanese invaders captured Nanjing, then China's capital, and started 40-odd days of massacre on Dec 13, 1937. More than 300,000 Chinese people -- both soldiers who had laid down their arms and civilians -- were murdered and more than 20,000 women raped.

CFDC president Tong Zeng told Xinhua on Sunday that the Japanese government has never offered an apology to the victims.

"We hope Japan's leaders will visit the Memorial Hall for the Victims in Nanjing Massacre on Dec 13 and apologize," Tong said.

On Sunday, China's State Archives Administration released a 10 minute video on its website, documenting the Nanjing Massacre. The video, includes residents' diaries and photos taken by foreign residents at the time, and is the first of a seven-part series scheduled to for released one per day. Sunday's video also features photos taken by invading Japanese troops.

Memories of the massacre still pain survivors. She Ziqing, 81, told Xinhua that images of the murder of children and rape of women by Japanese troops still haunted him.

The survivors' wounds contrast starkly with the Japanese government's repeated denial of the fact of the massacre and revisions to school textbooks.

We could not keep silent when Japanese right-wing forces are challenging the facts and growing aggressive on the issue, Tong said.

"Japan's government should learn from its WWII history," Tong said. "Japan's redemption starts when it apologizes sincerely to the victims in Nanjing Massacre."