CCTV Remembers September 18 Mukden Incident, Chinese Reactions

At present, the most popular microblog post of the day on Chinese social network Sina Weibo…

From Sina Weibo:

@央视新闻: #Don’t Forget September 18th# If You Remember What Today Is, Please Forward This! — 83 years ago today, the September 18th Incident [aka Mukden Incident] exploded, the start of the Japanese military’s attempt to use military force to conquer China. In the War of Resistance Against Japan [aka Second Sino-Japanese War], there were 35 million military and civilian casualties, in which elderly, women, and children were massacred! An invasion can spell the end of a country, but it can also awaken a people! Today, sirens will blare in may places, and no matter where you are, let us use Weibo to spread and engrave this in our our memories, not to be forgotten, never to be forgotten!

Comments from Sina Weibo:

行者之窗：

Who are telling not to forget? All year round, the major TV channels broadcast ridiculous War of Resistance Against Japan serials leaving us thinking those little Japanese devils were so flimsy that they could be ripped into two halves with one’s bare hands. But, who knows that the merely 20,000-strong Kwantung Army of the Japanese devils back then reduced 35 million of our comrades in the northern three provinces into the colonial slaves of a conquered country? In the end, just exactly who was fighting the war is even concealed. What’s even more infuriating is that even now have abandoned and are indifferent those old War of Resistance Against Japan veterans. Shameless people talking about never forgetting our national humiliation, so laughable!

Lokyu摄影师：

While not forgetting the Mukden Incident, I asked that our countrymen to stop blindly hating Japanese people! What we should be doing is changing this hatred into a motivation to work hard and improve ourselves, to catch-up to and surpass the Japanese in all sorts of fields, as opposed to just [cursing them] with our mouths!

熊猫外交：

Americans live in [for] the future, while Chinese live in the past.

未闻桃子名： (responding to above)

I disagree that “Americans live in [for] the future, while Chinese live in the past”. Do understand what it means to “fall in a pit and gain your wits” [to learn from a past mistake/failure]? That China has a long history, whereas America only has a few hundred years of history? How much history do they have? China’s history of both glory and decline is something our countrymen should know well in their hearts. Never forget our national humiliation, and always be vigilant even in peace.

贝壳小翘：

What the Japanese launched against the Chinese was not a war, but the genocide of one people by another people. September 18 is not the day of China’s national humiliation, and the publicity/propaganda regarding our national humiliation is wrong. Japan’s invasion of China is Japan’s shame, the loss of Japan’s humanity. Minnie Vautrin once wrote in her diary: In military terms, the occupation of Nanjing may be considered a victory for the Japanese military, but in terms of morality, this is a defeat, the disgrace/shame of the Japanese people.

Mik3y_6：

If World War III begins, I don’t expect everyone to lay down their lives to fight, I only pray that there are fewer Chinese traitors.

学警王波：

#Don’t Forget September 18th# Clicking open the comments, I see unity [in sentiments]. In today’s internet world, this kind of situation is very rare. In the face of the people’s righteousness, I think all the children of China who have a conscience already know what to do. Don’t forget our national humiliation, remain vigilant, and strive for self-improvement!

小X萝卜头：

The rabble’s character cannot be improved, even if the alarm is sounded 365 days a year.

地铁清风：

Friendship should be friendship, history should be history. Don’t forget our national humiliation! When our youth are strong, China will be strong!

独自坐江南：

Don’t forget our national humiliation, let us revive China, and may our homeland be glorious and prosperous, becoming stronger and stronger.

The #Don’t Forget September 18th# hashtag is currently the 3rd highest trending.