Both China and the Soviet Union made pivotal contributions to the victory in the global fight against fascism, which should not be forgotten, let alone demonized, said a Russia-based expert on international relations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Wednesday evening for a state visit and to attend celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War.
In a signed article published in the Russian Gazette newspaper ahead of his arrival in Moscow, Xi said China and the Soviet Union served as the mainstay of resistance against Japanese militarism and German Nazism, making pivotal contributions to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.
"Any attempt to distort the historical truth of WWII, deny its victorious outcome, or defame the historic contribution of China and the Soviet Union is doomed to fail," Xi wrote in his article.
In a panel discussion with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Russia-based international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda pointed out that the West is actively rewriting history from a Western perspective.
"In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the French people were asked, which country contributed most to the defeat of Nazi Germany and the liberation of France. And at the time, it was something like 90 percent of the French people recognized that the Soviet Union did the lion's share of the work in that regard. And in the modern day, that number has fallen to the low teens, so showing how much of a distortion of history. There is a very active rewriting of history that includes a modern geopolitical demonization. First of the Soviet Union continuing now with Russia, and we can also talk about China in the eastern side of the conflict being demonized. Not forgotten, but excised from memory and actively rewritten into a more modern western geopolitical interpretation of history," he said.
The joint attendance of the Russian and Chinese presidents at the 80th-anniversary commemorations carries profound significance, Sleboda noted.
"Why is 80 so important? A part of the reason it's so important is because there are so few living veterans of that conflict left, that we can still honor their sacrifice today. The next round number we hit, there may not be any left that can be celebrated in the living flesh. It will only then be memory. That is why the presence of the Russian and the Chinese presidents together mourning. The cost must not be forgotten, because that could lead to a repetition," said the expert.
Expert calls for accurate recognition of Soviet, Chinese contributions in WWII
