Related: China mourns victims of Nanjing Massacre, wishes for eternal peace

Paramilitary police hold wreaths during a rehearsal for a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the start of the Nanjing Massacre at the Nanjing Massacre Museum, Jiangsu province, December 12, 2007. Activities will be held on December 13 to commemorate the 1937 massacre, when Japanese troops killed more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and captives, raped more than 20,000 and burned down one-third of the urban buildings. [newsphoto]

    BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- China Thursday reiterated its principle of "taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future" as the country mourned the victims of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese 70 years ago.

    "We commemorate the day, to ponder upon the past, which can provide guidance in days to come, to take history as a mirror and look forward to the future, and to cherish peace," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang in response to a question at a regular press conference.

    "The Chinese government advocates developing a lasting neighborly relationship of friendly cooperation with Japan, based on the spirit of taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future," said Qin.

    He invited the press corps to observe a moment of silence with him for those killed in the Nanjing Massacre before he answered.

    He said China hoped that this spirit would permeate, from beginning to end, the development of China-Japan relations, and inspire the two sides to continuously draw lessons from history, in a bid to cherish the good momentum of the improvement and development of China-Japan relations.

    He urged joint efforts to continuously develop friendship between China and Japan and enhance cooperation, so as to promote the development of friendly relations for generations.

    Bells tolled in Nanjing as nearly 10,000 people gathered Thursday in the eastern China city at 10:00 a.m. to commemorate the 300,000 lives lost to Japanese forces 70 years ago.

    The Japanese occupied Nanjing, then capital of China, on Dec.13, 1937, and began a six-week massacre. More than 300,000 people, including unarmed soldiers, civilians, women and children, were killed, according to historical records.

Experts: "unassailable" evidence confirms 300,000 victims in Nanjing Massacre

    NANJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese historians have said that "unassailable" historical documents have proved more than 300,000 people were slaughtered in the infamous Nanjing Massacre by invading Japanese troops 70 years ago.

    "There is no doubt on the total number of victims, which has been confirmed by unassailable evidence in legal documents, and the Japanese right wing's attempt to deny it is unacceptable," said Zhu Chengshan, curator of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial. Full story