China launches anti-Japanese war 'virtual museum'

BEIJING - China launched an online "virtual museum" on the anti-Japanese war on Thursday, one month after its top legislature approved two new national days to mark victory in the war and commemorate those killed in the Nanjing Massacre.

The Virtual Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945) features linked websites designed to spread historical knowledge.

Netizens are encouraged to provide materials in the form of historical relics, pictures, videos, audio records and diaries.

Japan's rightists have shown a tendency to rewrite its wartime history in recent years, and frequently hurt the feelings of people from East Asia.

Li Zongyuan, deputy curator of Beijing's Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, said history should not be forgotten or falsified.

"We can only move toward a future of prosperity by learning from history," he said. "We badly need to let more people know the history of the anti-Japanese war, especially in the Internet era."

Li said hundreds of millions of Chinese people will be shared organizers and developers of this virtual museum via the Internet. And their participation and interaction can show the truth about Japanese aggression and Chinese resistance, as well as China's determination to defend its national dignity in the future.

The virtual museum was jointly launched by the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Beijing Internet Association, major Beijing-based websites, and the Beijing Radio and Television Network.