Grand ceremonies were held in Shenyang and other Chinese cities yesterday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Mukden Incident - the day Japan invaded China in 1931 and the start of 14 years of occupation - while unofficial commemoration activities were strictly controlled.
The official ceremony in Shenyang, where the Mukden Incident occurred, was the largest in years. The government was wary that unofficial recognition of the anniversary could get out of control and turn into anti-Japanese protests, analysts said.
Some activists said that their plans to hold unofficial activities were thwarted by authorities, and some activists were even briefly detained.
The attack on September 18, 1931, was a precursor to the second Sino-Japanese war, and is also known as the Manchurian Incident, or the 918 Incident in Chinese.
In Shenyang, where the Japanese army started its assault 80 years ago, sirens sounded at 9.18am and lasted three minutes. Xinhua said that more than 1,000 people from the central and local governments, the People's Liberation Army and others invited guests gathered at the square in front of the September 18 Historical Museum in the city for the annual commemoration, which began in 1995.
Two minutes before the air sirens, a bell was struck at the museum to remind people of the national humiliation. As the sirens wailed, drivers on the city's streets pulled over their vehicles and blew their horns in unison.