HK Holds Ceremony to Commemorate WWII Martyrs ����An official ceremony in memory of those who died in the defense of Hong Kong against the Japanese in World War II was held on October 17, the traditional Chinese Chung Yeung Festival. ����Tung Chee Hwa, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, laid a wreath at the Memorial Shrine, which houses a Roll of Honor. ����Among the participants were more than 100 members of the Hong Kong Independent Battalion of the Dongjiang Column, a guerrilla unit set up immediately after Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese on December 25, 1941. ����Their contribution to the defense of Hong Kong received official commendation after Hong Kong's return to the motherland, and a list containing the names of 115 members of the battalion who sacrificed their lives during the wartime was added to the Roll of Honor at the commemoration ceremony held last year. ����The ceremony also commemorated the martyrs from Pakistan, India, Canada and Britain. ����Also present at the ceremony were representatives from the judiciary and the legislative of Hong Kong, the central government of the People's Republic of China, as well as diplomats from Pakistan, India, Canada and Britain. (Xinhua) HomeNews 1999-10-18 Page3 Full Story in Chinese