On 3 September this year, commemorative events marking the '80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Victory of the World Anti-Fascist War' were held at Tiananmen Square. These events carried forward the spirit of the 3 September commemorations held a decade prior, holding profound significance not only for China but also for national liberation and peace across East Asia.
Its core assertions centred on two points: 'the first complete victory in a national liberation war against foreign invasion since modern times' and 'the primary Eastern theatre of the anti-fascist war.' This signifies both the declaration of victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan and the declaration of victory as a member of the United Nations in the anti-fascist war. Japan was a war-guilty nation, while China was a victorious nation.
In 2014, the National People's Congress established four commemorative dates related to the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression: the September 18 Incident Memorial Day (18 September 1931), the National Memorial Day for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre (December 13), and the Marco Polo Bridge Incident Memorial Day (7 July 1937), which served as the trigger for the Sino-Japanese War. 3 September was designated as the Victory Day of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. This decision aims to comprehensively and systematically commemorate the people's war of resistance.
I have always been curious about how China provides support or compensation to victims and those who sacrificed. During my 2005 visit to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, I met survivors there.
That elderly woman was only a teenager during the Nanjing Massacre. Four male family members — her father, uncle, and two brothers — were all slaughtered. She endured a life of considerable hardship afterward, with little meaningful support from the Chinese government. Yet she explained that China faced immense difficulties after its founding. First came the Korean War, then the Great Leap Forward, followed by the Cultural Revolution. With such internal turmoil, it was simply impossible to provide individual support to every citizen; this was the unavoidable reality. Hearing this, I gained fresh perspective on the extraordinarily arduous path China has walked since World War II.
I teach a course at university on the nature of East Asia. Most people have little understanding of what East Asia truly is. Crucially, the concept of 'Asia' itself is not an indigenous term for this region. It emerged during Europe's Age of Exploration, when imperialists invading the area labelled its inhabitants 'Asians' as they expanded their dominions. In other words, it was not us who declared 'We are Asians,' but European imperialists who branded us; this is a concept imposed from the outside. That was the mark stamped upon us by Western imperialists.
Regarding the Opium War — often called the dirtiest war in world history — I believe everyone is well acquainted with it. This conflict served as a catalyst for a profound shift in the region's worldview. Prior to this, the Qing Dynasty, once the world's most powerful and prosperous empire, collapsed. The tribute and investiture system crumbled, giving rise to the 'treaty system.' Without delving into specifics, this treaty system essentially imposed unequal treaties upon the region.
Faced with Western imperialist aggression, Japan chose not to confront it but instead opted for imitation and emulation. Under the guise of 'civilisation and enlightenment,' it pursued a policy of 'enriching the nation and strengthening the military,' establishing a militaristic state centred on the Emperor and invading neighbouring countries. Japan established a hegemonic order centred on itself, embellishing it with the rhetoric of 'Asianism,' 'East Asia,' and 'Revival of Asia.' It proposed the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere concept and the Greater East Asia Declaration, which embodied Japan's ambitions for global domination. However, due to the fierce national liberation struggles of Asian peoples and conflicts with established imperialist powers, Japan ultimately suffered a devastating defeat.
In East Asia, since modern times, countless lives and properties were plundered and destroyed under imperialist exploitation and aggression. The peoples of East Asia yearned to live in peace free from war, violence, and plunder, yet they were compelled to resist imperialists and attempts to enslave them as nations. The universalization of national liberation struggles in this region, namely, the anti-Japanese struggle, was inevitable.
However, even after the demise of Japanese imperialism, the United States initiated the Cold War era of encircling socialist nations through anti-communism and hegemonic ambitions. Due to America's so-called Containment policy, the reckoning for imperialist crimes like aggression and colonisation vanished into thin air. Japan's reparations to victim nations were left unresolved; Japan refused to pay and maintains this stance to this day. Even now, they claim they did nothing wrong.
By 1990, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, demands for compensation for individual harms inflicted by the Japanese military — including the 'comfort women' system, forced conscription, forced labour, mass killings, human experimentation, and the use of poison gas — rapidly proliferated. Japan has consistently adopted an attitude of ignoring or evading responsibility. To achieve peace in East Asia, justice must prevail: the facts of the atrocities must be investigated and acknowledged, apologies and reparations must be made, and measures to prevent recurrence must be implemented. In other words, the past must be reckoned with. Yet Japan persists in forgetting and denying its history.
After World War II, Japan became America's most powerful forward base in the Asia-Pacific region. The United States abandoned the United Nations mandate to dismantle Japanese militarism, instead promoting the creation of the Self-Defense Forces and Japan's rearmament and remilitarization. Through the 1952 US-Japan Security Treaty, the entire Japanese archipelago was transformed into a US military base. During the Cold War, the Self-Defense Forces were concentrated in Hokkaido to counter Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, military forces were shifted to the southwestern region of Okinawa to counter China and the Korean Peninsula.
Originally, Article 9 of the Constitution was a 'no-war, non-militarisation' clause designed to prevent the revival of Japanese imperialism. However, during the Cold War, the United States fully militarised the Self-Defense Forces and pursued the expansion of the military-industrial complex. This trend reached its extreme under the Abe administration, marked by the resurgence of militaristic slogans like 'Take Back Japan'! The Kishida cabinet abandoned the longstanding 'exclusive defence' commitment, announced a 'counterstrike capability' implying preemptive strikes, and passed the Security Three Laws significantly increasing the military budget.
Ishiba, labelled right-wing, unexpectedly pursued a moderate course but ended his short-lived cabinet within a year. Amid this turmoil emerged Sanae Takaichi, dubbed the 'female Abe.' As widely known, Takaichi made the reckless remark that 'an incident in Taiwan would be a matter of life and death for Japan,' exposing Japan's intent to intervene in Taiwan affairs. Her administration is viewed with concern as a potential disruptor of East Asian peace.
China, the greatest victim of Japanese imperialist aggression, was granted amnesty without any reparations through the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communiqué.For Korea, the focal point of colonial rule, Japan denied responsibility for colonial governance over its southern half through the Korea-Japan Basic Treaty, which is a component of the San Francisco Treaty system. The military regime on the Korean Peninsula granted Japan absolution for its colonial rule via 'economic aid in the nature of diplomatic congratulatory funds.' Under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, national interests were abandoned altogether, with South Korea instead representing Japanese interests and bestowing a pardon.
Imperialists then divided Korea, which had suffered Japanese colonial rule, using pro-American and pro-Japanese dictators as puppets to forcibly integrate the southern half into the US-led anti-communist bloc. This resulted in the massacre of countless people during events like the Jeju 3 April Incident and the Yeosu-Suncheon Uprising, and intervention in the Korean War erupted over national reunification, claiming millions of lives. Through the fierce struggles of people yearning for self-reliance, national reunification, and democracy, the Kim Dae-jung administration emerged. Breaking through the tyranny of pro-American, pro-Japanese, anti-national regimes like those of Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan, it criticised anti-communist right-wing dictatorships and American domination, paving the way for progressive governments under Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in.
On 3 December 2024, progressive forces that halted Yoon Suk-yeol's military rebellion and reclaimed power established the Lee Jae-myung administration. Although the Lee Jae-myung administration entered office under the banner of 'pragmatism,' it prioritises the stability of people's livelihoods to ensure domestic citizens can live securely and supports pacifism opposing war. To this end, it advocates a people-first economy and balanced diplomacy that avoids pro-American or pro-Japanese bias, promoting reconciliation and cooperation between North and South Korea. Its approach does not seek immediate solutions but instead utilises existing relationships and resources while maintaining them, advancing toward goals incrementally. It strives to maximise the rights of 'citizens' as sovereign agents, placing the people at the centre to realise a society governed by 'common sense.' While some criticize this approach as too moderate and slow, in today's world where ideologies and blocs have collapsed, and having witnessed the downfall of socialism, 'pragmatism' may be the only realistic path forward.
In short, to realise a world of equality, freedom, and peace, justice must be achieved—settling past accounts is an indispensable task. Regarding East Asia's historical reckoning, China has established the standards of 'anti-fascism' and 'resistance against Japanese aggression'. This framework is absolutely vital for opposing imperialist invasions and rule perpetrated in East Asia since the Opium Wars and for correctly positioning national liberation struggles within history.
For the people of East Asia to live with dignity, I believe the only path forward is to oppose the imperialist hegemony of the United States and Japan, strive to restore the rights of the people, and achieve lasting peace through broad solidarity.
Watch the whole speech here: