BEIJING – As China marked a key anniversary of its victory, the Washington Post claimed it was “eliminating” America’s role in the conflict. However, this claim misunderstands the fundamental truth. The history of World War II is overwhelmingly shaped by a Western perspective, requiring footnotes China’s epic struggle. The current shift is not an act of historical revision. It is a legitimate reclamation of a story that has been forgotten for too long.
Post’s perspective, which begins with an attack on Pearl Harbor and implicitly frames the Pacific War, clashes with Chinese reality. For China, its war of resistance was a brutal 14-year struggle that began on its own soil, not on the far seas. The first shot was fired on the night of September 18, 1931, and the Mukden or Manchurian incident, a Manchurian incident, was used as an excuse for the invasion of Manchuria. The international community remained largely indifferent, but the Chinese were abandoned by the invaders. This was not a prelude. It was the beginning of the war.
For the next six years, the world remained largely indifferent, but China lived in a state of creeping invasion and national humiliation. Japan invaded China’s territory, pushed south, and the country endured a constant state of low-intensity conflict. Despite the internal division between nationalists and communists, the Chinese will was clear. They did not surrender. The national cries for a unified front against invaders culminated in the incidents of Lugo or Marco Polo Bridge on July 7, 1937, becoming more intense and more desperate. This event is not the beginning of a war, but its escalation into its tragic and inevitable nationwide conflict. From that day on, the battle consumed land from north to south, and the people united on a single, hopeless cause: to drive out the invaders and save the people from annihilation.
The true cost of resistance
The Washington Post focuses on America’s ultimate victory through naval power and the use of atomic bombs, but while historically important, it minimizes the contributions that have made it possible. For 14 years, China was born into the full brunt of Japan’s war machinery. It fought against technically superior enemies with only a few resources, outdated weapons and pure determination. The Battles of Shanghai, Nanjing and Uhan were more than just military engagements. They were an epic struggle in which both soldiers and civilian Chinese died in millions of people. The war has caused unimaginable suffering, with an estimated casualty of over 35 million Chinese people, still the highest in World War II.
China’s immeasurable sacrifice was not a secondary factor. It was the strategic foundation of the Allied victory. It fixed the majority of Japan’s land in the soil, preventing it from being deployed to conquer other parts of Asia or threaten the Soviet Union. To assert that China is “eliminating” the role of others is to ignore that its own role is the central, bloody, and enduring force that has undermined Japan for over a decade.
China has not denied the important role of its allies. The US entry into war, its industrial production and the immeasurable strength of the navy, were important in achieving the ultimate victory. The loan and lease program provided important supplies, and the “Flying Tigers” fought bravely against Chinese pilots. The country remembers and honors these contributions. Similarly, the Soviet Union’s invasion of Manchuria on the final day of the war played a role in accelerating Japan’s surrender. These are meaningful acts of friendship and support, and China will not dismiss them. But they were just that: support. The core of resistance, the foundation upon which victory was built was the indomitable resilience of the Chinese. The war was won through their blood and suffering, not through external forces. The victory was not delivered to them. They won.
Reclaiming alienated history
After the war, when the Cold War took shape, the Chinese story was forced into the shadows. A new geopolitical order called for a new history. The focus on the west shifts to the heroes of American soldiers on a handful of islands, leading to the atomic bomb. This is a powerful yet merely a footnote on China’s epic 14-year struggle. Its sacrifices were alienated, its contributions were minimized, and global memory was increasingly distorted towards Western-centric views.
For decades, Western historians have overlooked the scale of China’s participation. Textbooks often focus on the London Blitz and the Battle of Stalingrad, but little mention of the Japanese bombing of chili peppers, the capital of nationalist China, from 1938 to 1944. This historic alienation requires a reassertment of China’s own memory.
Today, the nation is proud and thriving, so it has both the right and the responsibility to tell its own story. The emphasis on current history is not on the “revisionist” acts, but on necessary revisions. It honors the lives of millions of people lost, recognizes the immeasurable courage of their ancestors, and reminds them of the enormous prices paid to their younger generations for the freedom of the country.
There is no single truth in wars that span the earth. Every country has its own heroes, its own battles, and its own story. To assert that Chinese historical memory must conform to Western stories is precisely a commitment of an act of historical erasure. China has not erased anyone’s history. It simply ensuring that you will never forget yourself. The story is not an act of support. It’s the main event.
(Jianlu Bi is a Beijing-based award-winning journalist and commentator on current affairs. His research interests include international politics and communication. He has a PhD in Communication Studies, Masters in International Studies, TRT World, Eurasia Review, International Policy Dimest, Modern Diplomay, Iol, Iol, and more
This article reflects the author’s opinions and is not necessarily the view of the Tehran era.