China considers remembrance days for defeat of Japan and Nanking massacre

The central government may designate formal days of remembrance to commemorate Japan's defeat in the second world war and the Nanking massacre, state media reported yesterday, amid disputes over territory and historical wrongs.

The National People's Congress (NPC) is mulling making September 3 "Victory Day of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression", Xinhua said, citing the legislature. The official Japanese surrender was signed aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, and was followed by three days of celebrations in China.

Lawmakers are also considering designating December 13 as a "national memorial day to commemorate those killed by Japanese aggressors during the Nanking massacre in the 1930s", Xinhua reported.

In both cases, a "draft decision" would be debated during a bi-monthly session of the NPC Standing Committee from Tuesday until Thursday, Xinhua said. The national legislature will convene in Beijing for its annual plenum next week.

Meanwhile, Beijing yesterday called Japan a "troublemaker" that is damaging regional peace and stability, firing back at earlier criticism from Tokyo over a spike in tensions in northeast Asia.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying was responding to comments by Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida that China's military expansion in the region was a concern, although Kishida stopped short of calling China a threat.

Hua said at regularly scheduled news conference that China's military posture was purely defensive and Japan was stirring up trouble with its own moves to expand its armed forces and alter its pacifist constitution.