China made a tremendous contribution to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, dealing a heavy blow to the Japanese aggressors and buying precious time for other anti-fascist allies, according to international observers.
During the World Anti-Fascist War, China tied down and fought the bulk of Japan's forces, eliminating more than 1.5 million enemy troops and preventing Japan from allocating more soldiers to the Pacific theater.
China suffered a total of 35 million military and non-military casualties, accounting for a third of the total casualties of all the countries in World War II.
Arthur Rorris, secretary of South Coast Labour Council, a labor union in Australia, emphasized that China's sacrifices should be remembered by all who now enjoy peace.
"I think China's role was critical in World War II. And that is the tremendous role, the significant role that China played in keeping the Japanese imperialist forces at bay. That was a very significant moment and it needs to be noted, particularly now with the 80th anniversary of the end of the second World War," he said.
David Carter, former speaker of the New Zealand Parliament, also acknowledged China's suffering during the war, stressing that the country should find pride in its unassailable resistance to aggression and violence.
"I went to Nanking (Nanjing), to the memorial museum myself. I was chilled by what I saw, the suffering the Chinese people put up with, with the Japanese invasion. Just the resilience of the Chinese people, the determination to make sure that their country was safe from invasion, the determination to make their country a great country. And the birth of modern China starts after the end of the war in 1949, and any Chinese person should be very, very proud," he said.
In 1995, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama released a political statement recognizing the atrocities committed under Japanese imperialism. Today, some groups in Japan continue to value the message of the statement.
Takakage Fujita, secretary-general of the Association for Inheriting and Propagating the Murayama Statement, said Japan should reflect on history to safeguard the world's hard-won peace.
"I believe the Japanese government's attitude of attempting to conceal historical facts is utterly intolerable. Eighty years have passed since defeat. What did Japan do to Asia? What did it do to China? Did it make any commitments? Did it offer apologies and atonement? These questions must now be reviewed. We must look back at history, learn from the past, and look ahead to the future," he said.
China's sacrifices in World Anti-Fascist War must be remembered: int'l observers
