Hong Kong’s leader led top officials in a solemn ceremony Saturday to commemorate the victims of the Nanjing Massacre on China’s national memorial day.
Chief Executive John Lee headed the event at the Central Government Offices in Admiralty, where participants observed a two-minute silence following the playing of the national anthem.
Lee laid a wreath in honor of the victims and led attendees in signing a memorial book.
Among those present were representatives from the Central People’s Government’s offices in Hong Kong, Hong Kong deputies to the National People’s Congress, and former chief executives Carrie Lam and Donald Tsang.
The Nanjing Massacre began after Japanese troops captured the then-Chinese capital on Dec. 13, 1937. Over the following six weeks, they killed more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.
China designated Dec. 13 as a national day of remembrance for the massacre victims in 2014, with annual observances held across the country, including in Hong Kong.
