Xi lauds contributions of China, Russia to WWII victory

MOSCOW - President Xi Jinping on Thursday praised the sacrifices and contributions China and Russia made to WWII and their mutual wartime support while urging all nations to adopt win-win cooperation as a basic policy orientation in dealing with international affairs.

Xi, who has just arrived in Kazakhstan for a state visit, will later travel to Moscow to attend the Victory Parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War, Russia's term for WWII, and hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to strengthen bilateral ties.

Contributions of China, Russia to WWII 

"Looking back into history, the wars of invasion started by Fascism and militarism inflicted unprecedented disasters and catastrophe on Asian and European countries, including China and Russia and many countries in other regions as well as their peoples," Xi said in a signed article carried by the state-run newspaper Russian Gazette.

Xi praised efforts spared decades ago by people from more than 50 countries including China and Russia and all peace-loving people in forming a universal Anti-Fascist and Anti-Militarism United Front.

They fought jointly and defeated the barbarian invaders in life-and-death battles between justice and evil, light and darkness, freedom and slavery, Xi said.

Up to 27 million Russians and their brotherly minorities, Xi said, sacrificed their lives for the victory of the Great Patriotic War as Russia was the main European battlefield in WWII.

In March 2013, Xi laid a wreath at the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers at the Red Square in downtown Moscow during his first state visit to Russia.

"Despite that your names are unsung, your contributions and glories will be remembered forever," Xi said then.

As the main Asian battlefield in the Anti-Fascist War, China made as many great sacrifices as Russia.

In the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression that started as early as 1937, the Chinese defeated the invaders after eight years of unyielding and arduous fighting, diminishing much of Japan's military strength and preventing it from diverting its resources and therefore warfare to other regions.

The Chinese nation, whose 35 million people were killed or injured for the victory of the war against Japanese invasion, made tremendous contributions to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, which, like that of Russia, will be forever remembered in history, Xi said.