Martyrs, according to Beijing are "people who sacrificed their lives for national independence and prosperity, as well as the welfare of people in modern times, or after the First Opium War."
According to the state-run CGTN news channel China has around 20 million martyrs. "Among them, many were soldiers, revolutionaries and early communist leaders. But there were also many ordinary Chinese who sacrificed their lives for the common good," it states on its website.
