On Wednesday, September 3, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will hold a military parade, intending to showcase its military power and geopolitical influence, as well as inviting several “anti-Western” leaders to attend. This parade is seen as part of the CCP’s further manipulation of the history of the War of Resistance Against Japan, in order to maintain its legitimacy in governance.
The CCP claims that the parade is part of the activities commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Chinese people’s victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan. However, historically, the main force fighting against the Japanese on the Chinese mainland was the Kuomintang (Republic of China) government, not the CCP.
Former Time Magazine correspondent and current CEO of “Strategic Risks” advisory firm, Isaac Stone Fish, pointed out on social media platform X, “The Chinese Communist Party did not defeat Japan in World War II. It was the Chinese Nationalists – with strong support from the United States – who defeated Japan. The military parade in Beijing on September 3 pretends that the CCP government won World War II. This is not true, the historical truth is clear.”
At the recently concluded Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, CCP leader Xi Jinping once again promoted its World War II historical view, attempting to downplay the contributions of the United States and instead portraying the CCP and Soviet Communist Party as the core players in the resistance against Japan.
Analyst Claus Soong from the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Europe, in an interview with Radio Free Europe, stated that the current Chinese and Russian governments position themselves as anti-fascist forces, calling it a “significant distortion of world history.”
The CCP has invited these anti-Western leaders to attend the parade to showcase that they have their support and to demonstrate opposition towards the United States. According to NBC News, the CCP hopes to showcase its increasingly strengthened power through the parade, as well as highlight support from some of the countries most severely sanctioned globally, signaling they can “defy the West.”
Reportedly, leaders from Russia, Myanmar, Iran, and North Korea will attend the event, with Myanmar’s military government head, Min Aung Hlaing, who rarely travels abroad, also possibly attending.
Western leaders, including those from the United States, Europe, and Japan, and even India, have chosen not to attend.
According to The Guardian, among the European Union member states, only Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, representing Western countries, will be present.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Li Junhua will represent the United Nations at the event.
NBC News reports that with high-stake negotiations on trade, tariffs, and potential Taiwan conflicts ongoing with the Trump administration, the meticulously planned military parade in Beijing is seen as an attempt to showcase both military and diplomatic power.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) mentioned that the CCP hopes to imply through displaying the latest military equipment that its military power can rival the United States and compete for global leadership.
Drew Thompson, a senior researcher at the Lee Kuan Yew School of International Relations in Singapore, bluntly stated that this is a “show of force” as part of the CCP’s plan.
Retired Air Force General Blaine Holt, in a recent article on Newsmax, stated that the CCP is reaching a dead end, with Xi Jinping walking the path of becoming its final ruler.
This former Deputy Military Representative to NATO pointed out that the CCP, in order to evade accountability from the people, may resort to military actions to shift focus, wrongly accusing the United States as the “true problem.”
President Trump, in a phone interview with political commentator and former Bush administration official Scott Jennings on Tuesday, when asked about the formation of an anti-American axis involving China and Russia, stated that he is “not worried at all” because there are ways to separate them.
The military parade is part of the CCP’s manipulation of the history of the War of Resistance and misleading the actions of domestic citizens. The Washington Post reported that Beijing is attempting to reshape the history of the war by downplaying the aid from the United States and emphasizing the role of Russia.
The report mentioned that as the anniversary of World War II approaches, scholars, media, and think tanks sympathetic to the CCP have played down the importance of U.S. aid to China during WWII and portrayed the United States as a “nation that has been selfish and self-interested in both the past and present.”
Soong pointed out that the parade and Xi Jinping’s efforts to change the narrative of the war are mainly aimed at domestic audiences in China and countries in the Global South.
“The CCP is attempting to establish a common bond,” he said. “We will see how Beijing will rewrite history in Xi Jinping’s speech.”
Scott Kennedy, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, told Radio Free Europe that Beijing’s military goals are primarily at the regional level, with the most crucial being to dominate the Asia-Pacific region and control Taiwan.
During World War II, the major battles against the Japanese on Chinese territory were carried out by the Nationalist government (Republic of China), not the Communist Party. After the war, following the defeat of the Nationalist forces in battles against the Communist forces, the Nationalist forces retreated to Taiwan.
The government of the Republic of China (Taiwan, which still uses this name officially today) led post-war negotiations and as one of the Allied nations, signed a peace agreement with Japan. After the end of Japan’s decades-long rule over Taiwan in 1945, the island was handed over to the Republic of China, which was in power in China at the time.
The People’s Republic of China, led by the CCP, was not established until 1949 and has not ruled over Taiwan to this day.