More than 1,000 people from all walks of life held a public memorial ceremony for Chinese compatriots killed in the Pingdingshan Tragedy 73 years ago in Fushun City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, on Friday.

Holding banners reading "Never forget national humiliation and rejuvenating the Chinese nation", and "Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future", people laid baskets of flowers in front of the monument to the people killed in the massacre and stood in silence to mourn the dead at the Memorial Hall of Pingdingshan Tragedy Victims.

The Pingdingshan Tragedy refers to the massacre of more than 3, 000 innocent Chinese people at Pingdingshan Village by invading Japanese troops on September 16, 1932. These victims included elders, women and children. Japanese soldiers burnt the bodies of the villagers and blew up a hill to bury the bodies for the purpose of covering up their crimes. Japanese soldiers also burnt more than 800 houses in the village.

"That day, September 16 of 1932, was Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese festival of reunion," recalled 82-year-old Yang Yufen, a massacre survivor. "Japanese soldiers drove villagers to the cattle house, saying to take photos of the villagers in the morning."

"But what was covered under the black cloth was not cameras, but machine guns. As soon as they took off the black cloth, Japanese soldiers began shooting the innocent Chinese and they also used bayonets to check whether there were people still alive, " Yang said.

"I survived thanks to my parents' protection, but 18 members of my family died," Yang said, tears rolling down her wrinkled face.

Yang Baoshan, another survivor of the massacre, said "I come to the memorial hall every year to mourn my family members and fellow villagers who died in the massacre."

Yang is one of the few survivors who have kept filing lawsuits at Japanese courts starting in 1996. They asked the Japanese government to make a formal recognition of the crime by Japanese troops at Pingdingshan and an apology for it, and pay 60 million yen (about 600,000 US dollars) in compensation.

The Japanese courts admitted the facts, but rejected the apology and compensation claims. Upholding a verdict made by a subordinate court in 2002, the Tokyo High Court ruled the Japanese government is immune from taking responsibility for damage inflicted before the enactment of the state compensation law. The ruling also said that international laws do not recognize the seeking of damage compensation by individuals.

The Tokyo High Court on May 13 again rejected compensation claims from the Chinese plaintiffs, although the court recognized the massacre did exist.

"I'll continue my appeal for official apology from the Japanese government," Yang said, "If I can't win the lawsuit at Japanese courts, I'll appeal to the World Court."

The siren was sounded for one minute in the whole city of Fushun Friday, reminding people to keep history in mind and cherish today's peace.

Zhou Zhongxuan, secretary of the Fushun City Committee of the Chinese Communist Party of China, said, "I warn those people who deny and cover up the truth of history: Respecting history, they will be respected by history; Denying history, they will be denied by history."

Source: Xinhua