China commemorates war anniversary, highlights WWII role

CHINA'S ESSENTIAL ROLE

In his book "Forgotten Ally, China's World War II, 1937-1945," Rana Mitter, a professor of history at Oxford University, tells how the Chinese played an essential role in the wider war effort and made great sacrifices.

According to the author, the tragic, titanic struggle that China waged in the 1930s and 1940s was not just for its own dignity and survival, but for the victory of all the Allies.

In the anti-Japanese war, the CPC worked toward establishing a national united front of resistance against Japanese troops and an international joint anti-Fascist front.

The CPC also mobilized the masses behind enemy lines. The CPC-led army and civilians killed 1.7 million Japanese troops and puppet forces during the war.

More than 35 million Chinese were killed or injured in the anti-Japanese war, one-third of all who fell or were injured during WWII, according to incomplete official statistics. In the Nanjing Massacre of December 1937 alone, Japanese troops slaughtered at least 300,000 Chinese.

Chinese troops killed, wounded or captured more than 1.5 million Japanese soldiers, accounting for 70 percent of casualties of Japanese forces.

The war also caused more than $100 billion in direct economic losses for China.

The main force of the Japanese army was in China during WWII, said Tan Huwa, a researcher with Yan'an University in Yan'an, a revolutionary base in Shaanxi Province, northwest China.

China's tough resistance prevented Japan from attacking the Soviet Union or sending more forces to the Pacific battlefield, disrupting Japan's war plan, he said.

This year marks the 70the anniversary of the end of WWII. Japan signed its formal surrender on Sept 2, 1945, and China celebrated its victory the following day.

China will hold a military parade on Sept 3 at Beijing's Tian'anmen Square to commemorate the great victory.