China Foreign Ministry supports Nanjing’s decision to suspend ties with Nagoya

Feb. 22, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular news conference that the ministry supports Najing’s decision to suspend the official exchanges with Japanese city Nagoya because its mayor denied the Nanjing Massacre despite the well documented evidence that proves more than 300,000 people were murdered in December 1937 when Japanese troops occupied the then capital of China, Nanjing.Nagoya’s Mayor Takashi Kawamura said on Feb. 20 when meeting a visiting delegation from Nanjing that the Nanjing Massacre “probably never happened”, which triggered huge outrage in China.

Nanjing city published three annoucements on Feb 21 immediately after Kawamura’s irresponsible remarks, and stressed that Najing is suspending official contact with Nagoya.The Nanjing Massacre was an atrocity committed by Japanese military during their invasion. As the child of a Japanese soldier during the war, Kawamura should be sorry for what the Japanese army did in Nanjing, but he attempted to distort the historical facts.“We have made our position clear on the Nagoya mayor’s denial of the Nanjing Massacre and already lodged a solemn representation to the Japanese side,” Hong Lei said, adding that China is closely watching the issue.As 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties, Hong also asked the Japanese side to work on the improvement of bilateral relations in light of the principles enshrined in the four China-Japan political documents, as well as act in the interest of both peoples based on the spirit of learning from history.

Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall

Nagoya’s Mayor Takashi Kawamura