Flag Raising Ceremony Students’ Sharing 2026-9-21

Written by YIP Yuet Ning Marina (Form 5) and CHEN Nuo Ella(Form 5)

Marina: Good morning, Principal, Assistant Principal, teachers, and students. I am Marina from Form 5 BomBax.

Ella: I'm Ella from Form 5 Bauhinia. Marina, have you noticed how air-raid sirens and vehicle horns echo and blare across many cities every year on September 18th? Do you know what that is about?

Marina: I think I've learnt a bit about this. It commemorates the September 18 Incident of 1931(1913年918事變). It was a major event that changed history.

Ella: I heard it started over a railway. What actually happened?

Marina: Japanese soldiers wanted an excuse to take over Northeast China. So, they blew up a small part of a railway near Shenyang and blamed Chinese soldiers for it.

Ella: Oh, I noticed that they also used that fake accident as an excuse to launch an attack on Chinese military bases, capturing Shenyang that same night. This marked the start of the 14-year war against the Japanese invasion - the War of Resistance 中國人民抗日戰爭, the topic Jayden and Neil shared with us 2 weeks ago. But wait, didn't China have a huge army stationed there? How did Japan take over the whole region in just a few months?

Marina: That's a sad part of our history. The Chinese government at the time ordered the army not to fight back, hoping other countries in the League of Nations 國際聯盟 would step in and resolve the conflict.

Ella: Did other countries help?

Marina: Not really. The League of Nations sent a commission to draft a report, but they couldn't stop Japan's aggression. Millions of local people had to live under Japanese military occupation.

Ella: That sounds terrible. It really shows that a nation must be strong and self-reliant rather than depending entirely on others for protection.

Marina: Remembering this isn't about hating anyone—it's about learning from the past to keep peace. At the same time, maintaining strength requires keeping up with modern defense. For instance, in July, China’s military researchers from the National University of Defence Technology’s College of Intelligence Science and Technology have proposed a redesigned “AI principles and practice course” for graduate students with “educating for war” at its centre, embedding combat scenarios to better prepare future officers for intelligent warfare.

Ella: Understanding history and staying prepared help us build a better future. Thank you.