Commemorating history with perspective
- By Shen Dingli
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 1, 2015
Therefore, all kinds of countries, western or non-Western, mark their past through remembering anniversaries, and employing military parade is a means to present their will and competence, especially in honoring their success in defending their nations. The US did, USSR/Russia did, France did, India did, and now China will do so on September 3.
China was once brutalized by Japan and it suffered casualties of tens of thousands of people in the 1930s-1940s, making tremendous sacrifices so as to protect its people and land. Subsequently, Japanese armed forces were largely trapped in the Chinese battlefields, becoming far less able to engage in other parts of the Asia Pacific. Meantime, China's heroic feat much inspired nations and people of the entire world. It was China's sacrifice and contribution during its anti-Japanese warfare that largely established its world power status ever since.
Remembering the past has nothing to do with sustaining the hatred. Actually remembering the tragic past of the WWII by former enemies together adds to the value of sharing their present consensus of preventing the recurrence of such disasters and protecting international security under the current circumstances. That is how the upcoming Beijing parade has been actively perceived, despite the fact that some Western countries attempted to keep a distance.
Seventy years after the end of the WWII, all former defeated Axis states have achieved economic success. However, not all of them have repented their aggression in a sincere manner. Germany has thought its entire country was at fault for the aggression, while various Japanese politicians have viewed the past of their country rather differently. A number of Japanese leaders or former leaders indeed have genuinely expressed their remorse for the atrocities their country committed then, and swear to protect their pacifist constitution. But the rightwing revisionist force is on a resurgence, denying Japan's wartime crimes and paying tribute to their war criminals.
Wary of such disturbing developments, China finds its responsibility to defend the post-WWII world order by upholding the justice of anti-Japanese aggression and anti-Fascist warfare, with a military parade to mark the anniversary. Rather than presenting militarism, China aspires to offer a somber reminder of its will and capacity to sustain world peace, as it has done before, by deterring any future aggression.
The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/shendingli.htm
This article was first published at Chinausfocus.com To see the original version please visit http://www.chinausfocus.com/peace-security/commemorating-history-with-perspective/
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