Chen Qigang, curator of the Beijing-based Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japan, briefed those present on the massacre and introduced them to an exhibition showing the Japanese troops' atrocities against the Chinese people during the war and a US-made documentary on the massacre.

Bai Jiefu, an 80-year-old Chinese veteran of the war of resistance, told the audience about his wartime experiences.

"Japanese right-wing forces have said to admit the invasion of China is an abuse to the Japanese people themselves - this is definitely absurd," Bai said. "They are trying to deny and distort the historical fact."

"I am happy to make friends with Japanese students," said 14-year-old Wang Nan, a student in the Lugouqiao Middle School. "I hope they can visit this museum and learn about the history with their own eyes."

In December 1937, over 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were slaughtered in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, by the invading Japanese troops.

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2002)