International scholars examining publications concerning the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, compiled by the symposium’s organizers Photo: Wang Zhou/CSST

On Sept. 2, the International Symposium on the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War was held in Beijing. The event was co-hosted by the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and the PLA Academy of Military Science. Qu Qingshan, president of the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee, CASS President Gao Xiang, and Ling Huanxin, general and political commissar of the PLA Academy of Military Science, attended the meeting and delivered keynote speeches. CASS Vice President Zhao Rui presided over the opening ceremony.

Qu noted that the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was above all a triumph achieved through the CPC’s role as the mainstay. This conclusion, he stressed, is both a correct summary of the 14 years of struggle and an irrefutable truth that reveals the key to China’s success. From the outset, the CPC served as the earliest advocate, mobilizer, organizer, and fighter in the people’s resistance to Japanese militarism. It championed and safeguarded the national united front, becoming the strong political core of the whole-nation resistance. The Party also advanced the strategy of all-out resistance and protracted war, guiding the development and practice of correct strategies and tactics. By opening up vast battlefields behind enemy lines—later the main battlefield of the war—the CPC’s leadership of the people’s armed forces exerted a decisive influence on the outcome. Just as importantly, the great spirit of resistance forged by the Party and the people provided powerful spiritual support for victory. To commemorate this triumph, Qu said, we must never forget that the CPC’s role as the mainstay was the decisive factor. History teaches us that the leadership of the CPC is the foundation and lifeblood of the CPC and the country and where the interests and future of all Chinese people rest.

Gao emphasized that the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War was a triumph shared with the Allies and peoples around the world. It opened the path toward national rejuvenation while also contributing to long-term world peace and common development. Looking back, China was the first to expose the aggressive nature of fascism, and through immense sacrifice raised the first banner of justice in the global anti-fascist struggle. It sustained the main Eastern battlefield of the war, serving as a crucial pillar in the Allied strategic landscape, and actively promoted the creation of an international anti-fascist united front, rallying the global forces of justice against aggression. From the very beginning, the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression carried major significance for defending human civilization and safeguarding world peace. As an integral part of the global anti-fascist struggle, it made indelible contributions to crushing fascist ambitions of world domination and securing final victory. During the war, China also began to take part in rebuilding the international order, consistently committed to world peace and common development. It thus became not only a builder of the post-war international order, but also a guardian of world peace and a contributor to global progress. In light of today’s global challenges, Gao proposed three initiatives for the international academic community: to safeguard justice by jointly clarifying the correct historical view of WWII; to work together to uphold the post-war international order; and to deepen the theoretical foundation for building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Ling stressed that the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War revealed a profound truth: “Justice will prevail! Peace will prevail! The people will prevail!” This victory, he explained, demonstrated the historical inevitability that “a just cause is invincible before any enemy,” and validates the historical initiative that “if peace is sought through struggle, it will live; if peace is sought through yielding, it will perish.” It also scientifically reveals the logic of victory that “the people decide the outcome of a war, not by one or two new types of weapon.” To commemorate this victory, he argued, we must uphold a correct view of WWII history, firmly oppose Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation, and hegemonism, defend historical justice, honor commitments to peace, and allow the people to be the ultimate judge. Ling summarized the experience of victory that the decisive factor was the great national spirit; the key was the CPC’s strong political leadership; the essential weapon was whole-nation resistance; the necessary condition was the international anti-fascist united front; and the essence was embodied in the “Three Prevails.” Looking ahead, he urged, we must continue to move forward with history and develop in step with the times. We must remain confident that justice will prevail by always standing on the right side of history; that peace will prevail by always standing on the side of human progress; and that the people will prevail by always standing on the side of the world’s peoples. The enduring truth of the “Three Prevails,” he concluded, will guide the Chinese nation toward great rejuvenation and hold great significance for advancing the lofty cause of world peace and development.

Other speakers at the conference included Li Wentang, vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance); Dmitrii Novikov, deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Russia and first deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs; Zhang Shujun, president of the Chinese Society on the Research of the Figures in the CPC History; Georgios Katrougkalos, former minister of foreign affairs of Greece and a professor at Democritus University of Thrace; Zhang Hongzhi, president of the China Institute of CPC Literature Research; Ishida Ryuji, an associate research fellow at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and research fellow from the International Peace Research Institute at Meiji Gakuin University in Japan; Wang Peng, major general and director of the Political Work Department of the National Defence University of PLA China; and Wang Jianlang, president of the Chinese Society of the History of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

The theme of the symposium was “Remember History, Honor Fallen Heroes, Cherish Peace, and Create a Better Future.” In attendance were over 100 experts and scholars from China’s Party history research community, the social sciences, universities, and the military, along with more than 30 participants from abroad, representing countries such as Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Somalia, Cameroon, and Nigeria, as well as from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), the Macao SAR, and the Taiwan region.