National Day of Humiliation Remembered

This past Sunday morning, I awoke to sirens wailing outside my window.  I looked outside to see if there was a storm, but it was a clear sunny day.  On my way to fellowship, I could tell the sirens were coming from all the police stations located around the city.  And it wasn't until the speaker at fellowship informed all of us that the sirens were marking a historical day in China that I understood.

80 years ago on September 18th, Japan attacked Chinese troops in Shenyang, in the northeast of China.  The actual event is still a controversy as to who started it, but the Chinese say (as well as Wikipedia :) Japan blew up a section of the railway under its control near Shenyang.  Japan then accused Chinese troops of sabotage and bombarded the barracks of the Chinese troops that same evening.  Over the next few months, Japanese troops invaded much of northeast China starting a full-scale invasion of China and triggering a 14-year war of resistance against Japanese aggression.

Chinese troops had been under instructions to adhere to a nonresistance policy and were urged to not put up a fight, thus making it easier for Japanese troops to occupy many major cities and their surrounding areas with minimal difficulty.  The Chinese troops were made up of mostly irregulars or new recruits and were no match for the experienced Japanese troops. At this time, the Chinese government was preoccupied with numerous internal problems; a newly independent Guangzhou government, a Communist Party uprising and terrible flooding of the Yangtze River.  So China turned to the international community and appealed to the League of Nations calling for the immediate stop to Japanese military operations in Manchuria.  Japan rejected to the League of Nations attempt at negotiations and ended up resigning from the League of Nations in March of 1933.

Many Chinese view this day as a National Day of Humiliation and are urged to never forget the event.  "The past humiliation should be remembered, and it should also be taken as a driving force for the Chinese people to strive for the country's rejuvenation."

To read more about this event and China's reaction visit:
Mukden Incident - Wikipedia
Commentary: China Should Never Forget History of Humiliation