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Lu Chuan's City of Life and Death and the Chinese-German co-production John Rabe, were both withheld from release by the Chinese censors because of the depth of feeling that still remains in the country over the slaughter of at least 150,000 civilians by the Japanese army and the rape of tens of thousands of women in the city of Nanjing in 1937.   Many in China felt the Japanese had failed to show sufficient remorse for the massacre, while Japanese conservatives claimed stories of the military’s behaviour were exaggerated.

 Director Lu said the censor asked for a couple of violent scenes in his film to be changed.   Both films were scheduled for release in China in late April 2009. [ADD]