Xi calls for creating favorable environment for children's growth

Chinese President Xi Jinping extended his greetings to children across the country and called for creating a favorable environment for the children's healthy growth, ahead of the International Children's Day.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said children represent the future force in building a strong China and rejuvenating the Chinese nation, in his congratulatory letter last week to the ninth national congress of the Chinese Young Pioneers, a national organization for children.

He also urged the young pioneers to educate and guide its members to become pace setters of the new era who love the Party and the country, and are diligent in their studies and well-rounded in their development.

Throughout the years, Xi has taken the time to talk to children, visit schools, participate in children-focused events, and respond to letters from the children. Some of the moments he shared with children offer insight into his high hopes for youngsters, that is, to pursue all-round development and grow into talent for society.

In a reply letter to pupils from a primary school in the southwestern province of Sichuan ahead of the International Children's Day last year, Xi stressed that children are the future of the country and inspired them to become the talent capable of shouldering the mission of building a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation.

The school, Zhijiang Primary School, previously situated in the mountainous regions of Nanchong City of Sichuan, was relocated and reconstructed in 2004 with the support of Zhejiang Province in east China, where Xi served as the province's Party chief.

Xi also laid the foundation for the school.

"Back then, he made a requirement to us, saying, 'As the principal, you must build and develop this school well, and cultivate children from impoverished mountainous areas into talents at an early date,'" recalled Wen Zhiyong, the first principal of the Zhijiang Primary School.

Now, the school has transformed into a modern facility with new classrooms, attracting more young teachers to join the faculty.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of its reconstruction, students wrote letters expressing gratitude to Xi and telling the president about their studies and life.

"In his reply letter to us, Grandpa Xi encouraged us to be good children in the new era, who love the Party and the country, are self-reliant and aspiring. I want to be a senior engineer and build more high-rise buildings, tunnels and bridges for the motherland when I grow up," said Zhao Yiming, a six-grader of the Zhijiang Primary School.

"My utmost dream now is to become a teacher to pass on knowledge. I will bear in mind what Grandpa Xi entrusted us, remain grateful and keep working hard. In daily life, I'd share some housework in my capacity. In studies, I will continue doing my best," said Tang Hailing, another six-grader of the school.

Xi also emphasized the importance of children's sound moral grounding. He encouraged them to aim high, enjoy studying and working, be grateful and friendly, and have the courage to innovate and strive when visiting the Beijing Yuying School ahead of the International Children's Day in 2023.

Xi also said that a person's primary aspirations should be devoted to the motherland and people, when meeting representatives of the Chinese Young Pioneers' seventh national congress in 2015.

Xi calls for creating favorable environment for children's growth

International guests who have dedicated their lives to historical truth joined China's 12th national memorial event honoring the hundreds of thousands of victims killed by Japanese troops in the Nanjing Massacre during World War II.

The memorial was held on Saturday at the public square of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. China's national flag was flown at half-mast in the presence the crowd that included survivors of the massacre, local students, and international guests.

In one of the most barbaric episodes during WWII, the Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the then-Chinese capital Nanjing on Dec 13, 1937. Over the course of six weeks, they proceeded to kill approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers.

Joining the crowd was Christoph Reinhardt, the great-grandson of John Rabe (1882-1950) who was then a representative of German conglomerate Siemens in the war-ravaged Nanjing. During the Nanjing Massacre, Rabe set up an international safety zone with other foreigners, and they together saved the lives of around 250,000 Chinese people between 1937 and 1938 from the Japanese invaders.

Throughout the massacre, Rabe continued to keep a diary. To this day, all his pages remain one of the most comprehensive historical records of the atrocities committed by the Japanese aggressors.

Sayoko Yamauchi, who was also in the crowd of mourners, arrived in Nanjing on Friday from Japan's Osaka to attend Saturday's ceremony, just as she has done almost every year since China designated Dec 13 as the National Memorial Day for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre in 2014.

Yamauchi's grandfather was one of the Japanese soldiers who invaded Nanjing in January 1938. However, since first setting foot in Nanjing in 1987, she has dedicated herself to uncovering and spreading the truth about Japan's history of aggression and enlightening the Japanese public about their country's wartime atrocities.

In 2014, ahead of China's first National Memorial Day for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, Yamauchi, along with 10 other individuals, received an award for her special contribution to the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.

By attending the grand memorial event, Reinhardt and Yamauchi both said they hope to convey a message of remembering history and cherishing peace.

"This is my fifth visit to China, and Nanjing, and the third times I visited the ceremony. I have a wish that these survivors survive again and again and again. But my other wish is that the families of the survivors, that they transport the information, the right intention like their ancestors, because anyone must hold a hand (during) this remembering," Reinhardt told China Central Television (CCTV) in an interview before the event began on Saturday.

"Our delegation is on its 20th visit to China, coming to Nanjing to express our heartfelt condolences to those who perished 88 years ago, to remember this history, and to reflect on what we can do for a new future. That's why we are here," Yamauchi told CCTV on board the bus that took her to a local hotel in Nanjing on Friday evening.

Int'l guests call for remembering history at China's national event honoring Nanjing Massacre victims