摘要：As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and t

By Yuan Sha

As this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, China's pivotal role on the Eastern front demands renewed recognition. From 1931 to 1945, China's 14-year War of Resistance not only safeguarded its own sovereignty but also made indelible contributions to the grand Allied success of the global war against fascism and the formation of the post-war world order.

The longest and arduous resistance

The September 18th Incident of 1931 marked the inception of both Japan's imperial expansion and China's solitary defiance, which was eight years before the war began in the European theater in 1939 and a full decade before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which kick-started the Pacific War in 1941.

While Western powers hesitated with appeasement policies, the Chinese, weak yet resolute, had already waged large-scale battles as well as guerrilla warfare against Japanese invaders. During the 14-year struggle, the Chinese people bore the tremendous cost of over 35 million civilian and military casualties while decimating over 1.5 million Japanese aggressors, accounting for 70 percent of the total Japanese toll in World War II (WWII).

The main Eastern battlefield of the world war against fascism

With heroic resistance of the Chinese military and people, as well as following the right strategies such as Comrade Mao Zedong's On Protracted War, China served as the mainstay in tying down the bulk of the Japanese aggressors. The Songhu Battle in 1937 delayed Japan's advance by three months. The Hundred-Regiment Campaign from August 1940 to January 1941 led by the Communist Party of China also disrupted supply lines of the Japanese forces, forcing them to abandon their "Strike South" timetable.

By 1941, China had already endured a decade of attrition warfare, eroding Japanese morale, disrupting Japanese military logistics and diverting Japanese forces from Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

China's role was of strategic significance in reshaping the global trajectory of the war, and helped facilitate Allied victories elsewhere. The Soviet Union was able to repel Nazi Germany without a two-front war in the Battle of Stalingrad, owing part of its success to China's relentless resistance in the Eastern theater. The Doolittle Raid of 1942 was launched from Chinese bases, boosting U.S. morale after the Pearl Harbor attack by Japanese troops.

These and other stories demonstrated that without China's main Eastern battlefield, fascism's collapse might have been delayed, if not derailed. Former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin all spoke highly of China's role in the war.

China's Eastern theater also forged the international solidarity against fascist aggressors. The Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune set up frontline hospitals before sacrificing his own life in China. American Flying Tigers, officially known as the American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force, volunteered in fighting alongside Chinese soldiers in the war.

Members of the 76th Squadron of the 23rd Fighter Group of the 14th U.S. Air Force, in which Flying Tiger pilot Glen Beneda served as a pilot, pose for photos in front of two shark-teeth fighter planes in China during World War II. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Chinese fishermen from Zhoushan Islands, China's Zhejiang Province, risked their lives to rescue 384 British prisoners of war following the sinking of the Japanese-requisitioned Lisbon Maru, as depicted in the recently released Chinese blockbuster "Dongji Rescue."

However, as British historian Rana Mitter's book revealed, China, as a "forgotten ally," has seen its sacrifices and contributions neglected or downplayed in the narratives of the WWII in other parts of the world, which is due to long-held Western-centrism and ideological biases.

What's past is prelude

Eighty years on, China's 14-year War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression has remodeled China's national psyche, by forging the willpower to resist foreign aggression and strive for national rejuvenation. China's victory also reclaimed its lost territory, such as Taiwan's restoration to China in 1945, ending 50 years of colonial rule by Japan.

China's wartime sacrifices are not merely a national epic but endure as a linchpin of the world anti-fascist history and the postwar order. The war ended with the complete victory of the world anti-fascist alliance and the establishment of an international system centered on the United Nations, aimed at maintaining post-war peace, promoting human development and advancing social progress.

As a founding member of the UN Security Council, China has been an ardent champion of decolonization, multilateralism and cooperation, for the ultimate goal of building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Today, as we honor the success of the global war against fascism and pivotal contributions China made during WWII, we do not seek to perpetuate hatred, but pay tribute to sacrifices and the pursuance of peace through remembrance. As the world is facing a rising tide of unilateralism, protectionism and populism, it is critical to learn from this important period of history to meet today's new and complex challenges in order to ensure people of all countries enjoy lasting peace and prosperity.

The author isdeputy director at the Department for Global Governance under the China Institute of International Studies.

来源：中国网一点号