Panama's Chinese community commemorates China's victory over Japanese aggression

Members of Panama's Chinese community Sunday commemorated the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

Protecting the peace was the main message promoted among the 700 community members of all ages, who held a one-minute moment of silence for all the Chinese who had lost their lives in the war.

Representatives of the Chinese government and Chinese organizations were present at the ceremony, which began with a black-and-white film that showed the ill-treatment and violence that the Chinese people were subjected to during the war.

"The aim of today is to commemorate China's sad history, but the bigger picture is to promote and safeguard the precious peace that we have today so that we have a better future," Wang Weihua, representative of the office of Commercial Development of China in Panama, said.

China suffered over 35 million casualties. The direct economic loss reached some 100 billion U.S. dollars, Wang said in his speech at the ceremony.

During the ceremony, some Chinese-Panamanians were awarded with commemoration medals to acknowledge their heroic participation in the war against Japanese aggressors 70 years ago.

Wang said that it was important that all children present at the ceremony know about this period in history so that they don't forget that part of China's history. He also encouraged the younger ones in the group to study and work hard to protect and safeguard peace. Endi