Hundreds of people attended a solemn commemoration here on Sunday to honor victims of the Nanjing Massacre, committed by invading Japanese troops during World War II.
The memorial, jointly organized by four non-profit groups from California's Bay Area, was attended by officials from the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, local community leaders, newly-elected San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, business leaders and other representatives.
The participants observed a minute of silence to pay tribute to around 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers, who were killed over six weeks after imperial Japanese troops occupied Nanjing, then China's capital, on Dec. 13, 1937, which later became known as the Nanjing Massacre.
"We're here not only to mourn the deaths of our compatriots brutally killed by the Japanese aggressors and remember the brave Chinese people and international friends who fought with them against invading Japanese troops, but also to express out firm stance of cherishing peace and looking toward the future while remembering history," Deputy Chinese Consul General in San Francisco Zou Yonghong said while addressing the event.
A short documentary about stories told by nearly 40 pilots from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan Province, who fought Japanese troops during the war, was screened at Sunday's event.
