On September 2, 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies, including China, in a ceremony on the USS Missouri. On September 9, Japan’s leaders signed the Act of Surrender, China Theatre, in Nanking.
This week, Beijing will stage a military parade to celebrate the occasion, as it has since 2015.
In 2015, Xi Jinping said: “The aim of our commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War is to bear history in mind, honor all those who laid down their lives, cherish peace and open up the future.”
Which Chinese people?
There is no mention of the Nationalist government in this. Who were these “Chinese people,” and who organized their “People’s War of Resistance”? It was not the communists, not by a long shot. The history of the Communist Party in the war against Japan is disgraceful and should be a source of shame and repentance.
This “Chinese People’s War of Resistance” was organized and led by the communists’ enemy, the Kuomintang. It was the KMT who fought Japan to a standstill while the Reds sat on the sidelines gathering their strength to wage civil war.
An editorial in the Diplomat quotes a tally of the Red contributions:
“From 1937 to 1945, there were 23 battles where both sides employed at least a regiment each. The CCP was not a main force in any of these. The only time it participated, it sent a mere 1,000 to 1,500 men, and then only as a security detachment on one of the flanks.
“There were 1,117 significant engagements on a scale smaller than a regular battle, but the CCP fought in only one. Of the approximately 40,000 skirmishes, just 200 were fought by the CCP, or 0.5 percent.”
And adds:
By the CCP’s own accounts during the war, it barely played a role. Specifically, in January 1940 Zhou Enlai sent a secret report to Joseph Stalin which said that over a million Chinese had died fighting the Japanese through the summer of 1939. He further admitted that only 3 percent of those were CCP forces.
So Xi and his communists can share in the honors only by virtue of being Chinese people, by broadening the credit for victory to the entire nation and then presumptuously speaking for that nation.
And, somehow, diluting the credit this way leads to a communist moral.
“Going forward, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, we, people of all ethnicities across the country, should take Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of Three Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development as our guide to action. We should follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, pursue the four-pronged comprehensive strategy, promote patriotism and the great spirit of resisting aggression and forge ahead as one to reach our goals.”
A number of professedly ignorant people have been taken in by Beijing’s messaging generally.
Celebrities, for example.
Cross-strait regulations
Taipei has cautioned its entertainers “against echoing mainland Chinese propaganda, singling out Beijing’s military parade next week while reiterating that government employees and senior retired officers were forbidden from attending.”
“Taiwanese entertainers developing careers in mainland China must abide by cross-strait regulations, be mindful of public perception, and refrain from supporting the Communist Party’s propaganda campaigns—particularly the September 3 military parade,” said Chiu Chui-cheng, head of the [Mainland Affairs Council]….
At least 20 entertainers are under investigation for reposting mainland Chinese state media content or echoing statements by mainland officials. The controversy follows a March incident in which multiple celebrities…shared a propaganda image that said “Taiwan must return to China”, shortly after mainland Foreign Minister Wang Yi declared that “Taiwan has never been a country and never will be”.
Celebs and their agents said they didn’t know that they had broken the law.
Bad influence
These being the times we live in, one cannot ignore the “influencers” either. A Taipei official “said some online influencers have become propaganda tools of Beijing and warned that they will be punished if they break the law after revelations of pay-offs for pro-China messages sparked an uproar on the island,” Radio Free Asia reported in December.
“YouTuber Ba Jiong, whose channel, ‘Fun TV,’ boasts more than a million subscribers, posted a video on Dec. 6 detailing what he said was collusion between some Taiwan influencers and Beijing’s United Front, through which the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, uses groups and individuals to advance its interests.”
The law here is Article 33-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. It’s very clear: “The article bans individuals, juristic persons, organizations or other institutions in Taiwan from engaging in any form of cooperative activity with political parties, the military or administration of any political nature in China.”
That’s not just a law, it’s good sense and even good taste, two traits not always associated with celebrities and influencers. □
James Roth works for a major defense contractor in Virginia.
