China in World War II: A Necessary Reassessment

XULIO RIOS

In China, the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the global victory over fascism reminds us of the enormous sacrifice endured by this country in its long struggle against the Japanese invader. The Japanese invasion of the 30s and 40s, marked by atrocities such as the Nan Massacrejing (1937), subjected China to unimaginable cruelty. According to the most recent estimates, lMilitary and civilian casualties exceeded 35 million people in a battle that lasted 14 years. More than any other country involved in the conflict. This suffering added considerable difficulties to the reconstruction work promoted by the new power established in 1949.

In the West, we have been taught that World War II began in 1939 with the Nazi invasion of Poland. Our Eurocentric view ignores the fact that Imperial Japanese troops had invaded China in 1931, eight years earlier, during which Chinese society had fiercely resisted the occupation. Certainly, the conflict unfolded in two stages and two phases, but the narrative has been conditioned by a biased approach that looks more to Europe than to Asia. We are accustomed, for example, to reliving Nazi atrocities, but we know very little about the terror practiced by Japanese troops on Chinese soil. This explains, for example, why the "excessive" use of the Nazi regime has come to be considered "excessive." criticism from China and other countries in the region to the horrific practices of the invading army. I remember visiting the museum in Harbin, capital of the northern province of Heiligenjiang, detailing the criminal bacteriological warfare experiments carried out by Unit 731 using human beings as guinea pigs. Shocking.

The bias of this approach has led Japan to feel less compelled to acknowledge its historical responsibility with due emphasis, failing to exercise a profound and always necessary public recognition. On the 70th Anniversary, Shinzo Abe reiterated his apologies formulated by his predecessors, Tomiichi Murayama (1995) and Junichiro Koizumi (2005), but rejected new apologies. El present Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba Has expressed “remorse”. However, included ebe shy Ishiba's repentance has been tempered by a visit by one of his ministers to the Yasukuni Shrine, where part of Japan worships its war criminals. in a context of undisguised praise of Japanese militarism.  Own Ishiba has sent an offering to Yasukuni.

The time has come to restore balance in the perception and assessment of those tragic events. It is unfair as well as dangerous that, given the current situation, we ignore the role played by decisive actors in the final outcome of that conflict. This is, however, what has been happening for some time with the marginalization of the USSR (between 20 and 27 million dead in the conflict), which has ostensibly seen as a networkIts relevance is highlighted in order to foster the role of Western allies. Or that we approach with indifference the revisionism in the historical narrative or the setbacks in expressions of regret on the part of the aggressors.

China suffers from a chronic oversight of enormous proportions that ignores the significance and strategic influence of a contribution that, internally, would also pave the way for the ultimate victory of the Communist Party (CCP) over the nationalist troops of the Kuomintang. It is time, therefore, to recognize that the starting point of that conflagration was not Europe but Asia, and that, specifically, it took place on Chinese soil. In Japan's actions, without effective condemnation from the powers of the time, other fascist governments in other latitudes would find encouragement to carry out their nefarious plans.

It is incumbent upon historiography to rebalance the Western view of war. This exercise would allow us to better appreciate the high value of the existing international order. Despite its limitations, it constitutes the starting point for a stability that does not block the possibilities of evolution adapted to the global changes of recent decades, preserving the central role of the United Nations, the systemic epicenter of any supposedly rules-based order.

the value of peace

Today, Japan is reconfiguring its security and defense policy. In fact, ha settled his pacifist policy, which he implemented as a result of the lesson I extractedday of the Second World War. La revisionist vision, at the hands of ultraconservative groups, increases its social and political projection while the country's main authorities persist in a regrettable ambiguity, justifying themselves with cultural patterns and the discomfort of the truths they must face.

China and other countries in the region that also suffered Japanese atrocities, as well as other victim countries, are right to reclaim the historical memory of this dark chapter. We must do so fully and comprehensively to put things in their proper place, but also to deny the softening of the tragedy and block the current discourses that repeat the ideological standards that led to that great tragedy. The danger to peace is real.

Collective consciousness is the best antidote to rising extremism. The lessons should not be overlooked, nor should the warning signs be ignored. China's highlighting this at this time represents a unique contribution and a wake-up call to the entire international community to show greater commitment to ensuring that history must not repeat itself.

Xulio Ríos is Emeritus Advisor to the Chinese Policy Observatory.