Dates set to honor victory, mourn Nanjing

BEIJING - China's top legislature on Thursday ratified two new national days, one to mark victory of the war against Japanese aggression and the other to commemorate victims in the Nanjing Massacre.

China-Japan Relation

September 3 was ratified as the victory day and December 13 the national memorial day for massacre victims, according to two decisions made at the three-day session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress which ended on Thursday.

In 1951, the Chinese government designated September 3, the next day after the Japanese government officially signed the instrument of surrender in 1945, as the victory day.

Japanese troops started the massacre in Nanjing on December 13, 1937, killing more than 300,000 people in the following 40-odd days of atrocities.

Lawmakers, political advisors and people from all walks of life have repeatedly proposed setting the two dates as national days.

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