BEIJING: Standing amid archival photos, wartime relics and large-scale theme videos, foreign diplomats on Thursday paid tribute to the Chinese people’s heroic struggle during World War II at an exhibition in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Bilal Mahmood Chaudhary, Pakistan’s deputy head of mission in Beijing, listened attentively to an interpreter at the People’s War section, who briefed the audience on how Chinese soldiers and civilians, led by the Communist Party of China, waged widespread guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines.
“This reflects the resilience, perseverance and strength of the Chinese nation. Whenever the country faces a crisis, the entire society unites to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity against any attempt to subjugate them,” he said.
Such a spirit continues to this day and is reflected in China’s rapid development in recent decades, he added.
Chaudhary was among over 160 foreign diplomats from 112 embassies and 10 international organizations in Beijing who visited the exhibition, which offers a panoramic review of China’s resistance against Japanese aggression and its role in the World Anti-Fascist War.
When Japanese militarists launched their full-scale invasion of China 88 years ago, the Chinese military and people initiated a whole-of-nation war effort that opened the main Eastern battlefield in the global war against fascism. Official data shows that the Chinese battlefield accounted for over 70 percent of total Japanese casualties during WWII.
China’s resistance began the earliest and lasted the longest, with over 35 million military and civilian casualties, amounting for nearly one-third of the global losses during WWII.
Acknowledging China’s wartime sacrifice, Honduran Ambassador to China Salvador Moncada said that China’s role was “unique and very important”. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
