9-18 ‘NEVER AGAIN 不容再犯’ RALLY 集會

2014-09-20

“NEVER AGAIN” 不容再犯！大溫近千人集會，隆重紀念“九一八”

2014年9月18日中午12點在溫哥華市中心藝術館廣場, 溫哥華中華會館聯合120多家華人社團成功舉辦了“日軍侵華歷史不能忘卻，堅決捍衛世界和平正義”-Never Again 不容再犯集會。展出由“侵華日軍南京大屠殺遇難同胞紀念館”提供的50幅揭露日軍侵華時燒殺搶掠滔天罪惡的歷史照片；並特邀講員現場控訴日本軍國主義在二戰侵華時犯下的駭人聽聞的罪行；以此來紀念1937年9月18日的日軍侵華“九一八”事件，歷史悲劇，決不容許再犯！

有近千人參加集會，除了大溫地區的華人外，還有來自維多利亞的華人社團，更有當地其他族裔的觀眾來參加集會和觀看圖片展覽。

附有關集會的照片供參考。

謝謝關注及大力支持！

溫哥華中華會館宣傳組

100 CHINESE-CANADIAN GROUPS RALLY AGAINST JAPAN’S EXPANDING MILITARY, FEARING A REPEAT OF JAPANESE WAR ATROCITIES COMMITTED IN CHINA 80 YEARS AGO

Japanese Prime Minister’s visit to a controversial shrine for war dead seen as honouring war criminals, and endorsement of Japanese militarism

Vancouver, BC (September 18, 2014): Calling it “a wound that has never healed”, organizers of a downtown Vancouver rally today against Japanese militarism say 35 million Chinese citizens and soldiers were killed by Japan’s army during the “War of Resistance Against Japan” (1937-1945), and there are fears among Chinese-Canadians that history could repeat itself.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government began the process this summer of abolishing Japan’s 67-year-old pacifist constitution, which has restricted Japanese soldiers and military activities to home soil since their surrender at the end of the Second World War. Scrapping the constitution would allow Japanese forces to move troops into other countries for the first time since 1947.

Many Chinese-Canadians fear that leaves China subject to attack by a country that has never formally apologized for its horrific atrocities committed against the Chinese people 80 years ago. They delivered their message at the rally organized by the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver, and in alliance with more than 100 Chinese groups.

The “Never Again” rally warned that a recent increase in Japan’s military spending will lead to an expansion in its armed forces which would once again be capable of moving against other countries. The same sentiment has been expressed by Chinese people around the world, with demonstrations in Sydney, Hong Kong, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and a number of Chinese cities.

Fanning the flames of the issue is a visit late last year by Prime Minister Abe to a shrine in Tokyo that includes 1,000 Japanese war criminals. Among them are 14 Class A war criminals from the Second World War.

Statements issued by both the Chinese and South Korean Foreign Ministries have denounced the Japanese visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.

“Even the Emperor of Japan is wise enough not to visit the shrine because of the sensitivities involved,” says Thomas Chan, National President of Dart Coon Club of Canada, Chair of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Victoria.

“To have Japanese leaders visiting the Yasukuni Shrine again proves their government still prefers to turn a blind eye to the atrocities they committed in China. They have never formally atoned for it, and that attitude, combined with the increased interest in growing Japan’s military amounts to an ongoing endorsement of a return to Japanese militarism and colonization. The international community should beware of what that may mean for the future.”

“The crimes committed against the Chinese people were our holocaust. To us, the Prime Minister’s visit to Japan’s war criminals is no different than a German leader honouring the Nazi Party,” said Paul Lee, Curator of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society and Treasurer and past President of the Pacific Unit 280 of the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans of Canada (ANAVETS). “By paying respect to war criminals, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sent a disturbing message to neighbouring nations like China, who suffered so much from wartime atrocities at the hands of Japan’s military. We cannot stand by and let history repeat itself, and once again threaten peace in China and the world.”

Rally organizers say China’s economic losses caused by Japan’s attack totalled more than $600 Billion in 1937 US dollars, equivalent to more than $10 Trillion of today’s Canadian dollars, or more than five times Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2012.

More information at www.Canadians4NeverAgain.ca

The Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver (CBA) was founded in 1895 and by 1906, was formally registered as a non-profit organization in the Province of British Columbia. Since its inception, the CBA has worked diligently to promote equality for Chinese Canadians and to foster better understanding with other community groups. Highlights of the association’s past efforts include food distribution to unemployed Chinese Canadians in 1913, a plea to review Canada’s immigration laws in 1924, an appeal to grant Chinese Canadians the right to vote in 1947, and numerous petitions between 1947 and 1967 to solicit amendments to Canadian immigration laws to facilitate the reunification of Chinese Canadian families. Current community involvement includes the creation of an affiliated non-profit society to provide low-cost housing and frequent fundraising campaigns to assist the victims of natural disasters in Canada, China, Haiti, and Japan after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The CBA h as become the organizer for many social and multicultural projects, including popular annual events such as the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) Parade and the Canada Day Celebration. CBA is an umbrella organization for over 100 Chinese associations and societies in the Vancouver Lower Mainland. www.cbavancouver.ca