A bronze statue of the late Chinese American writer and author of the book The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, Iris Chang, has been unveiled in the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, in Nanjing, eastern China's Jiangsu Province.

The Rape of Nanking recounts the horrible massacre the Japanese invaders committed in the eastern Chinese city under Japanese occupation in the late 1930s.

The 2-meter statue captures the deceased writer giving a speech with the signature book in her left hand while holding up her right hand, telling the world of the atrocities committed by Japanese invaders.

A battered portion of the ancient Great Wall forms the bottom part of the statue, evoking the massive injuries the Nanjing city suffered in the war.

The statue was proposed and financed by the China Foundation for Human Rights Development. The vice-president of the foundation, Yang Zhengquan, said the statue was built in tribute to Iris Chang's spirit of seeking historical truth. 
 
The parents of the writer, who came all the way from the US to attend the ceremony, noted Japan can only win the forgiveness and trust from its neighbors by facing up to history directly instead of evading its responsibilities for its past crimes.

The American born and bred Iris Chang decided to write a book in English on the Nanjing Massacre to introduce the great tragedy to people in western societies. She spent three years shuttling between China, Japan and the US to collect first hand evidence on the massacre.

The book had been on the New York Times best-seller list for over two months following its publication in 1997, drawing wide-ranging attention in English-speaking reader circles. On November, 2004, Iris Chang succumbed to psychological pressures and committed suicide at the age of 36.

Between December 1937 and March 1938 at least 369,366 Chinese civilians and prisoners of war were slaughtered by the invading troops. An estimated 80,000 women and girls were raped; many of them were then mutilated or murdered.

(CRI.com September 12, 2005)