A group of some 200 foreign guests appealed for peace all over the world at an exhibition featuring the notorious Nanjing Massacre held in Beijing Monday evening.

The foreign visitors were diplomatic envoys, experts, journalists, and business staffs working in Beijing.

They came from 34 countries including the US, the UK, Germany, Russia, Japan and Brazil.

"It's terrible!" "Inhumane!" "Appalling!" These words were frequently spoken out when the visitors were asked to comment on the exhibition at China's National Museum in downtown Beijing.

Invading Japanese troops occupied Nanjing on December 13, 1937, and launched a six-week long massacre.

Historical records show that more than 300,000 Chinese people, not only disarmed soldiers but also civilians, were slain in the holocaust.

On display are more than 600 photos and more than 700 documents and materials, or the evidence of the Nanjing Massacre.

"What a shame!" said Adrian Geiges, a correspondent of Der Stern, a German weekly.

Nasri Abdul Latif, second secretary at the Bruneian Embassy in Beijing, said he had read many books regarding the Nanjing Massacre before.

"But seeing the exhibits is different from reading books. These photos give me a vivid picture of what actually happened during that period of time. It's inhumane," he said.

"War should be avoided, at any cost," he added. 

Christina Waraschitz, an Austrian expert at the China Radio International, said she was so astonished at the death toll, tears, pains, and tragedy in the massacre that she did not how to express her feelings.

"We must try our best to make such things never happen again," she said.

Catalina Nicolae, cultural counselor at the Romanian Embassy in Beijing, said war is the cruelest thing in the world.

"We should always keep in mind that peace is the most precious asset of humanity. We must educate the young generations in the profound respect of human dignity and friendship among all nations," she said.

Zhu Chengshan, curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in the Nanjing Massacre and organizer of the exhibition, said the aim for holding the exhibition is to let more people, especially the younger generations in China and foreign friends, to have a comprehensive and objective understanding of the Nanjing Massacre.

"In fact, the Nanjing Massacre is not just an issue between China and Japan, it is also the most shameful page in the world history," he said.

"We hope the whole world could have a correct understanding of the Nanjing Massacre. We must avoid such historic tragedy to happen again," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2005)