China on Tuesday voiced appreciation for former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's visit to a memorial hall dedicated to victims of the 1937 massacre committed by Japanese troops against civilians in Nanjing.
"We appreciate the fact that one of the people of insight in Japan faces history and calls for peace," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters, although Tokyo and Beijing are still engaged in debating the truth of the killing.
Lu added that Japan should work together with China to improve bilateral relations, as this year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of a friendship treaty between the two countries.
In Tokyo, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the government's top spokesman, declined to comment on Fukuda's visit to the memorial hall, only saying at a press conference that it was an "action by a private person."
On Monday, Fukuda, known as a pro-China politician, became the fourth former prime minister to visit the memorial hall in the eastern Chinese city after Toshiki Kaifu, Tomiichi Murayama and Yukio Hatoyama.
Fukuda became the fourth former prime minister to visit the memorial hall in the eastern China city after Toshiki Kaifu, Tomiichi Murayama and Yukio Hatoyama.
After offering flowers and a silent prayer at the hall, Fukuda was quoted as telling reporters that peace is of utmost importance and that the tragedy of war must not be repeated ever again.
He also said it is necessary to face up to what already happened, adding, "Japanese people need to visit the memorial hall and understand the history," according to the media.
The scale of Japanese troops' killing of civilians and soldiers during and in the weeks after the occupation of Nanjing, then the capital of the Nationalist Chinese government of Chiang Kai-shek, has been the subject of much debate.
Japanese troops occupied Nanjing on Dec. 13, 1937, and began a six-week massacre. Chinese records show more than 300,000 people -- not only disarmed soldiers but also civilians -- were brutally murdered and thousands of women raped.
（Source: ourjiangsu.com）
