Priest honored for saving thousands from invaders

Jacquinot negotiated with Japanese to set up the Shanghai Safety Zone

Just hours after a national day of mourning for the hundreds of thousands of Chinese killed by invading Japanese troops during the Nanjing Massacre, a stone plaque was unveiled in Shanghai on Thursday honoring Robert Jacquinot de Besange for saving hundreds of thousands more.

Eighty years ago, Jacquinot, a French Jesuit priest, set up the Shanghai Safety Zone in the former Nanshi district as Japanese troops invaded Shanghai that August, displacing a large number of civilians.