Macao holds commemoration for Nanjing Massacre victims

China's Macao Special Administrative Region held a memorial ceremony on Saturday to remember the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre during Japan's aggression against China in the 1930s-1940s and reflect on history.

Saturday marks the 12th National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims. They were brutally killed by Japanese aggressors after they occupied Nanjing, then the capital of China, on Dec 13, 1937.

Macao’s Saturday memorial ceremony began at 09:00 at the Macao Academy of Public Security Force, with the Chinese national anthem. Around 450 attendees from all walks of life mourned the victims.

Four large wreaths were escorted by the guard of honor and presented by Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Macao Zheng Xincong, and other high-ranking officials.

They bowed to wreaths and observed a minute of silence with the attendees.

Teacher and student representatives from Keang Peng School expressed their feelings about the ceremony.

"Today, bringing the students here to this solemn occasion, we sang the national anthem together. Besides experiencing the tragic history, it was also a rare opportunity to delve more comprehensively into our history. At the same time, we can sow the seeds of patriotism more effectively in the hearts of our students," said Wong Cheuk Him, a teacher of the school.

"As I look at this memorial wall of the deceased compatriots, I feel that these are not just cold numbers but the shattered lives of countless families. As a student from Macao, I understand that peace is hard-won. I believe that we should collectively protect and safeguard the current tranquility to prevent these tragedies from happening again," said Hui Ka Hou, a student from the Keang Peng School.

Macao holds commemoration for Nanjing Massacre victims

China's experience in eradicating poverty offers valuable lessons for the rest of the world, said Kishore Mahbubani, former permanent representative of Singapore to the United Nations, in an interview aired Friday.

Mahbubani highlighted the historic significance of China lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, describing it as a powerful example of effective governance, in an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Shanghai.

"So, for a country like China to lift 800 million people out of poverty, the sense of personal liberation that people get when they escape poverty is so powerful. I experienced it, I came out of poverty. I can understand how these 800 million people feel. And so the sense of personal liberation is enormous. It takes an incredible amount of good governance to eradicate poverty. And so clearly, China has done some things exceptionally right to be able to rescue so many people from poverty," he said.

He also noted that China's success has reflected governance capacity that merits serious study.

"And if we can move into a world 10 to 20 years from now, where every country in the world replicates what China has done and eradicates poverty, then we would have improved the human condition dramatically. And that's why China's governance needs to be studied carefully by all the countries in the world," said Mahbubani.

China's poverty alleviation experience worth global study: former Singaporean diplomat