File Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping (AFP)
Beijing:
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Japan to learn from its past military aggression on Wednesday, as China commemorated Japan's World War Two surrender on a newly appointed Victory Day amid tense ties between the two Asian giants.
Xi and fellow members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China, presided over a pomp-filled ceremony at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing.
"China will never allow any denial and distortion of this history of aggression or any return to militarism," state media quoted Xi as saying.
The ceremony comes at a time of frayed relations between China and Japan, which have tussled over the legacy of Japan's wartime militarism, a territorial feud over tiny islands in the East China Sea, and mutual distrust over defence policies.
China will observe three memorial days in September for the first time this year, representing an intensified campaign by Beijing to commemorate the country's fight against Japan.
Xi and fellow members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China, presided over a pomp-filled ceremony at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing.
"China will never allow any denial and distortion of this history of aggression or any return to militarism," state media quoted Xi as saying.
The ceremony comes at a time of frayed relations between China and Japan, which have tussled over the legacy of Japan's wartime militarism, a territorial feud over tiny islands in the East China Sea, and mutual distrust over defence policies.
China will observe three memorial days in September for the first time this year, representing an intensified campaign by Beijing to commemorate the country's fight against Japan.
© Thomson Reuters 2014
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