Foreign officials hail China's contributions in WWII

China

Foreign officials hail China's contributions in WWII

2025-09-05 03:09 Last Updated At：04:17

Officials from many countries spoke highly on China's sacrifices and contributions to the victory over fascism in World War II after watching the V-Day parade held in Beijing on Wednesday, emphasizing that the world should draw strength from the great victory to forge ahead.

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 troops to the Pacific theater.

China suffered a total of 35 million military and civilian casualties, accounting for a third of the total casualties of all the countries in WWII.

On Wednesday, the country held a grand military parade at Tian'anmen Square to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Many distinguished international guests were in attendance.

"Actually, I wake up at 4:00 in the morning to see the great military parade and it was really very impressive and many interesting points I see there. This parade is like from the next century when I see new aircrafts, and new nuclear missiles. But this is the very important point that the Chinese people are not using these weapons for the fight with the next countries, but your country is using these weapons to save the borders of China. This is the very important. You have these weapons for peaceful future," said Michal Bartek, member of the National Council of the Slovak republic.

"In his important speech, President Xi Jinping recounted the heroic spirit of the Chinese people, who united in courageous battles against their common foes, put up a courageous fight, and fought for their nation's survival. The Chinese people made tremendous sacrifices and ultimately achieved victory. Remembering this history is everyone's responsibility," said Gyula Thurmer, president of Hungarian Workers' Party.

"When we look back at world history, we see that approximately 35 million Chinese sacrificed their lives in WWII, and there were approximately 100 million people across the world also sacrificed their lives for peace. This all occurred in the 1940s. Their sacrifice was for peace, for the establishment and maintenance of peace. I believe we have a responsibility to remember them. I consider this a sacred and solemn mission," said Jagath Wickramaratne, speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

China flu activity declines for fourth week, no new pathogens detected: official

Influenza activity in China has declined for four consecutive weeks, with recent tests showing common pathogens and no evidence of new infectious diseases, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Tuesday.

At its first press briefing of 2026, the commission reported that flu activity nationwide remains moderate at the moment.

According to Xin Li, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, respiratory samples collected from sentinel hospitals indicated that the influenza virus was the most common pathogen, accounting for 27.4 percent of cases, followed by respiratory syncytial virus at 8.8 percent and rhinovirus at 5.7 percent.

"Influenza activity in China has declined for four consecutive weeks and remains at a moderate level overall. Analysis of nationwide fever clinic consultations, influenza-like illness cases at sentinel hospitals, and multi-pathogen testing shows that all detected pathogens are known common ones, with no evidence of unknown pathogens or new infectious diseases," Xin told the press.

Data from sentinel hospitals indicated flu activity was falling across provincial-level regions, while reports of school outbreaks dropped for five consecutive weeks. Laboratory tests showed that 97.3 percent of positive influenza samples were H3N2 subtype viruses.