Remembering the Nanjing massacre
On December 13 2012, China marked 75 years since the beginning of the Nanjing massacre, in which China says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in what was then the national capital.
The event, also known as the "Rape of Nanking", is a sensitive political issue that has been a point of tension with Japan.
Pigeons fly up during a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the start of the massacre at the Nanjing Massacre Museum.
The figure of 300,000 deaths recorded by the Chinese is visible above the heads of people attending the ceremony. A postwar Allied tribunal put the death toll at 142,000, but some conservative Japanese politicians and scholars put the number much lower, or deny a massacre took place.
A survivor of the massacre puts his hand to his face during the ceremony. Ties between Beijing and Tokyo, which have suffered from memories of Japan’s 1931 to 1945 invasion, have also been strained recently by disputes over demarcation of their boundaries in the East China Sea and control of natural gas beds under its waters.
Long rows of school children line up as they attend the event.
Two schoolgirls sit huddled up on some steps during the ceremony.
Large crowds gather to mark the anniversary of the beginning of the massacre.
A man walks down a corridor after the ceremony at the museum.
Two police officers stand side by side as they attend the event.
A survivor of the massacre sounds a gong during the ceremony.
Skeletons of victims of the massacre are displayed at the Nanjing Massacre Museum.
