BEIJING, April 27 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature on Friday adopted a law to protect the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs.
The law was passed unopposed after a second reading at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), which ended Friday.
The country and the people should forever respect and remember the heroes and martyrs for their sacrifice and contribution for the Chinese nation and the people, according to the law.
The law, promoting patriotism and socialist core values, bans activities that defame heroes and martyrs, or distort and diminish their deeds.
It stresses that those who violate the heroes and martyrs' rights of name, portrait, reputation, and honor will be punished.
It also outlaws acts that glorify invasions, with offenders facing administrative or criminal punishments according to the severity of their actions.
Yue Zhongming, an official with the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee, said at a press conference on Friday that it is correct to outlaw acts that praise invasions, noting that a handful of young people recently dressed in Japanese WWII army uniforms and spread the photos online to glorify the war.
In another incident earlier this year, two young men were held by police after posing in front of ruins in Nanjing, dressed in the uniforms of Japanese invaders and holding "army weapons."
Nanjing is the site of the Nanjing Massacre. Japanese troops captured the city on Dec. 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers.
The law also includes content on the protection of memorials of heroes and martyrs, and publicity and education of their spirit and deeds.
The law will enter into effect on May 1.
