China Marks 95th Anniversary of September 18 Incident
China on Friday commemorated the 95th anniversary of the September 18 Incident, the 1931 event that marked the outbreak of Japanese aggression against China and the start of what Chinese historiography calls the 14-year War of Resistance. Solemn ceremonies unfolded across the country, from Shenyang in the northeast to Nanjing, Songyuan, Fuyang and Zichang, combining remembrance of national suffering with a message of renewal, state media reported.
The Central Ceremony in Shenyang
The main national event was held at the Residual Calendar Stele Square of the “September 18” History Museum in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, the site where the incident began. A giant calendar-shaped monument there freezes the date at September 18, 1931.
At 9:18 a.m., 14 representatives from across society pushed the mallet to strike the “Bell of Warning” 14 times, symbolizing the 14 years of the resistance war. Air-raid sirens sounded across Shenyang, joined by the horns of trains, ships and cars, according to People’s Daily.
Li Hongzhong, a member of the Communist Party of China Political Bureau and Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, attended and delivered remarks. “Taking history as a mirror and illuminating the future, we must unwaveringly uphold the Party’s overall leadership, advance Chinese-style modernization, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind,” he said.
About 1,000 people attended the Shenyang ceremony, including veteran resistance fighters, families of martyrs, central and regional officials, and representatives of the Northern Theater Command. Wang Xiaohong, Zhang Shengmin and Shao Hong were also present. Leaders visited an exhibition titled “Truth: Ironclad Evidence of Japanese Aggression in Northeast China,” China Daily reported. The ceremony was also carried by national broadcaster CCTV.
A Nation Remembers
The Xinhua feature highlighted commemorations in five locations, weaving individual moments into a national narrative of remembrance.
In Shenyang, 90-year-old veteran He Lindi attended with tears in his eyes—described by Xinhua as reflecting deep longing for fallen comrades, painful remembrance of the nation’s suffering, and cherishing of today’s peace. In Nanjing, around 400 representatives from Jiangsu Province gathered at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, where university students recited resistance poetry. “Standing on the Memorial Square to recite feels like answering for the peers of that era. They had no way out; today we must not forget,” said Zhang Boxiang, a student at Nanjing University of the Arts.
In Songyuan, Jilin Province, air-raid sirens sounded at 9:18 a.m. as traffic police removed their caps and stood in silent tribute. In Sanzhaiji Town, Fuyang, Anhui Province, village Party secretary Han Ji used a livestream watched by more than 1,000 online viewers to discuss the anniversary, telling residents that without the sacrifices of earlier generations “there would be no rural revitalization today.” In Zichang City in the Yan’an region of Shaanxi, Xiuyan Junior High School held a themed education activity that included a situational drama, “On the Songhua River.”
The Mukden Incident, 95 Years On
On the night of September 18, 1931, personnel of the Japanese Kwantung Army detonated a small explosive on the South Manchuria Railway near Liutiaohu, blamed Chinese forces, and used the incident as a pretext to attack Shenyang and occupy Northeast China. The episode is also known as the Mukden Incident or the Fengtian Incident.
Chinese historiography dates the War of Resistance from 1931 rather than 1937, and the number 14 carries symbolic weight in the annual commemoration. The Residual Calendar Stele and the “September 18” History Museum remain the central national site for the observance.
A Sharp Contemporary Edge
This year’s anniversary carried an unusually pointed geopolitical dimension. The People’s Daily published a commentary titled “If the Root Cause Is Not Removed, Japan Has No Future,” arguing that distorted historical cognition is the ideological root of a “new militarism” in Japan. The paper urged Tokyo to address what it called the root cause of its historical outlook.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun described the September 18 Incident as a “war conspiracy long concealed by the Japanese government,” warning that “denialism” toward history is spreading. He urged Japan to face and reflect on its history of aggression and said regional countries must remain vigilant, Lianhe Zaobao reported.
The sharp tone reflects heightened China–Japan tensions. Japan’s embassy in China issued a notice on September 11 advising Japanese nationals to be cautious about rising anti-Japan sentiment around September 18, recommending they avoid speaking Japanese loudly in public and steer clear of crowded squares and areas associated with Japanese residents, according to RFI.
Analysis: Memory as Statecraft
The commemoration illustrates how China treats historical memory as both a source of national cohesion and a tool of diplomacy. Domestically, the ceremonies serve a patriotic-education function, linking past suffering to present-day resolve and to themes such as rural revitalization and youth responsibility.
Externally, the anniversary has become a venue for signaling positions on contemporary China–Japan relations. By pairing the solemn ritual with a pointed commentary on “new militarism,” Beijing ties its historical narrative to present-day disputes, ensuring that the memory of 1931 continues to shape the bilateral relationship.
For analysts, the tension between remembrance framed as a lesson for peace and remembrance sharpened into criticism of a neighboring state is the key dynamic to watch. The Xinhua feature emphasized slogans such as “never forget national humiliation,” while the official commentary directed at Japan carried a harder edge.
What to Watch
The 95th anniversary marks an approach to the centenary of the incident in 2031, an occasion likely to draw even greater attention. Whether the observance remains primarily a domestic commemorative event or intensifies as a flashpoint in China–Japan relations will depend on how both governments manage historical memory and current disputes in the months ahead.
For now, the ritual remains fixed: at 9:18 a.m. each September 18, the Bell of Warning sounds its 14 strokes, and Shenyang—and the nation—remembers.