Death of Nanjing massacre author mourned (Xinhua) Updated: 2006-01-05 20:49
Following the death of Shiro Azuma, the Nanjing massacre diary author, China
has expressed condolences and sympathy to his relatives, Qin Gang, a Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman, said here Thursday.
"I hope that more Japanese like Shiro Azuma will contribute
to the friendship between China and Japan in the spirit of learning from history
and facing the future, " said Qin.
Azuma was a soldier in the Japanese army during the war of aggression against
China. He recorded the atrocities of the Nanjing massacre in his diary and had
it published in 1987, which triggered a charge of "lying" from Japanese rightist
politicians.
"Half a century later, Azuma had the courage to review the history of the
aggression, defend the truth, and apologise to the victimized country, so his
sense of justice and efforts to promote Sino-Japanese relations win our
respect," Qin said.
Azuma died of cancer Tuesday in a hospital in Kyoto Prefecture.
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