BEIJING -- The top legislature is considering designating two new national days, one to mark victory in the anti-Japanese war and the other to commemorate victims in the Nanjing Massacre, it announced on Tuesday.

September 3 is expected to be the victory day and December 13 the memorial day for massacre victims, according to two draft decisions submitted for review at the bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress which runs from Tuesday through Thursday.

"It is extremely necessary to set the days through legislative procedures," said Li Shishi, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, while reporting to the legislative body.

Lawmakers, political advisors and people from all walks of life have repeatedly proposed setting the two dates as national days and institutionalizing national ceremonies of commemoration, Li said.

VICTORY DAY

He said that the planned designation of the victory day reflects the will of the Chinese people and reminds us of the need to remember history, cherish peace and create a better future.

The war of resistance against Japanese aggression was the first in modern history in which China won complete victory over foreign aggressors and an important part of the World Anti-Fascist War, according to Li.

China's victory over Japanese aggression was a crucial point in turning China from weakness to revival and an important foundation to achieve national independence, liberation for the people and the founding of the People's Republic of China, he said.

The draft decision to set the day was made to better commemorate heroic martyrs in the war and all the people who contributed to victory, as well as to recall the arduous resistance against Japanese militarists' aggression, according to Li.

The draft decision was also aimed at expressing China's stance of safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial solidarity and world peace, while carrying forward national spirit with its core of patriotism and inspiring the drive to realize the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, the official said.

MEMORIAL DAY

The day must be held as an occasion for remembering the Nanjing Massacre victims and holding public memorial services and other activities on the national level, Li said.

Japanese troops started the massacre in Nanjing on Dec. 13, 1937, killing more than 300,000 people in the following 40-odd days.

As a flagrant violation of international laws, the atrocity was tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal, which have already rendered a verdict based on irrefutable evidence.

The draft decision was made to mourn victims of the massacre and all those killed during the Japanese aggression against China, exposing the war crimes of Japanese invaders, Li said.

The occasion is expected to serve as a reminder of calamities the war caused for Chinese people and the world, and as an expression of the Chinese people's stance of combating aggression and safeguarding human dignity and world peace.