In preparation for the military parade on September 3rd, the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda department is working at full throttle, churning out articles to incite and perpetuate falsehoods about the resistance against Japan, propagating their version of patriotism in an attempt to shore up their teetering regime. However, the truth is difficult to conceal, as the fabricated content of the CCP propaganda fails to hold water, instead exposing the awkward predicament of the current state of the Communist Party’s military.
On August 21st, Xinhua News Agency published an article entitled “Detailed Explanation of the Arrangements for the 80th Anniversary Parade Commemorating the Victory of the War of Resistance.” The article claimed that the CCP military was the “mainstay” of the resistance against Japan and showcased the banners of merit and honor selected from units such as the Eighth Route Army, New Fourth Army, Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, and the South China Guerrilla Forces.
However, the numbers and designations of these listed military or guerrilla units mentioned above are hard to support the CCP’s claims of being the “mainstay” of the anti-Japanese resistance. During that time, it was actually the regular forces of the Nationalist Army that played the leading role in the fight against Japan, with the CCP’s military playing only a limited supporting role at best. Xinhua News Agency’s propaganda inadvertently revealed the truth.
The so-called guerrilla warfare by the CCP was actually only a small part of the entire guerrilla warfare. In the Japanese-occupied areas, there were tens of thousands of Nationalist troops engaged in active guerrilla warfare at most; in the Northeast, there were various guerrilla units, some maintaining contact with the Nationalist government, while others were purely spontaneous actions by the people, most of which had nothing to do with the CCP. However, the CCP falsely claimed the credit for anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare under the guise of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army.
The Xinhua News Agency article also claimed that the militia was the foundation of victory, with over 2.6 million militia members during the war against Japan, annihilating over 106,000 enemies. According to Japanese medical statistics, the Japanese military suffered 455,700 to 700,000 deaths during the war of aggression in China, with over 1.93 million wounded or missing, totaling over 2.5 million casualties. The inflated figures put forth by the CCP military could only muster the claim of annihilating over 106,000 enemies, even combining Japanese and puppet troops. It can be said that the CCP military’s achievements during the war were nearly insignificant.
According to Japanese statistics, the puppet troops suffered 288,100 to 574,600 deaths, with around 742,000 wounded, totaling approximately 960,000 casualties. Throughout the war, the total casualties of Japanese and puppet troops ranged between 3 to 3.6 million. Even with the CCP’s exaggerated figure of annihilating over 106,000 enemies, it only accounted for about 2.94% to 3.53% of the enemy’s casualties.
The actual number of battles fought by the CCP military during the war is crystal clear. Despite insisting on being the “mainstay” of the resistance against Japan, the CCP’s own meager data exposes its hollow claims.
On August 25th, People’s Daily published an article titled “The Crucial Role of the Chinese Communist Party as the Mainstay of the Chinese People’s Victory in the War of Resistance against Japan.” The article proclaimed that the CCP was the “mainstay and political leadership core” of the anti-Japanese war.
The claim of being the “mainstay” has been self-debunked, with the data showing that the CCP military did not engage in many battles and certainly could not be considered the “military leadership core.” Therefore, they had to vaguely label themselves as the “political leadership core.” Their logic is merely a self-proclamation as the “pioneer of the anti-Japanese national united front.”
After the “September 18 Incident” in 1931, the CCP did not participate in the resistance against Japan, and as late as 1934, they were still painstakingly maintaining their base in Jiangxi, basically acting as bandits and causing disturbances to the leadership of the Nationalist government from the start. In 1935, after the complete clearance of the CCP’s base in Jiangxi, the remnants of the CCP Central were forced to flee to Yan’an. It was for survival that they raised the banner of resistance against Japan but did not send their armies to the front lines.
In December 1936, under the instigation of the CCP, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, under the pretext of a military admonition, imprisoned Chiang Kai-shek, the supreme commander of the anti-Japanese efforts. The CCP was eager to put Chiang Kai-shek in a precarious situation but was stopped by Stalin, who forced them to release Chiang Kai-shek, hoping that Chiang Kai-shek could continue to lead China in the fight against Japan and ease the concerns of the Soviet Union.
Thus, this was deemed by the CCP as the “anti-Japanese national united front,” but in reality, it was to seek recognition from the Nationalist government. By spreading lies in this manner, the CCP falsely claimed that they provided “political guidance” in the fight against Japan. However, the article quoted Mao’s words, stating that the Nationalist government should “adopt a policy that combines unity and struggle, seeking unity through struggle.”
On August 13th, the CCP military newspaper published an article titled “Strengthening Political Superiority, Resolutely Obeying Party Commands—Remembering the Great Victory of the War of Resistance, Forging the Heroic People’s Army.” The article claimed that after the formation of the “united front” during the war, Mao Zedong announced that they would “maintain political independence and resolutely execute the orders from the Party Central Committee and the Military Commission.”
In other words, while the CCP claimed to advocate the “united front” of the war of resistance, they did not actually listen to unified command or cooperate with the Nationalist Army in its fight against Japan. The CCP only used the “anti-Japanese united front” as a political tool against the Nationalist government, out of necessity for self-preservation, rather than a genuine commitment to the anti-Japanese cause. Later, Mao openly thanked Japanese visitors for their assistance and expressed gratitude to the Japanese military for saving the CCP’s life; otherwise, the CCP would have been wiped out.
By thanking the Japanese military for their invasion of China, the CCP harbored another unspeakable secret. After the surrender of the Japanese army in 1945, over 100,000 Kwantung Army members from Northeast China were incorporated into the CCP military. These Japanese soldiers, upon their return to Japan, joked that they never expected to end up defeating the Nationalist Army alongside the CCP.
The article in People’s Daily mentioned that in 1938, Mao Zedong published “On Protracted War.” In reality, following the Battle of Shanghai in 1937, the Nationalist government had already begun to relocate its capital to Chongqing and was implementing a protracted war plan. The CCP’s “On Protracted War” in 1938 was a belated response, making it nothing more than an afterthought. Just from this timeline perspective, the CCP was not qualified to lead the war effort.
People often refer to the eight-year war of resistance, from the comprehensive resistance in 1937 to Japan’s surrender in 1945. The CCP now tries to revise this into a fourteen-year war of resistance, intentionally pushing the timeline back to 1931; however, this move only further highlights the CCP’s delayed involvement in the anti-Japanese resistance. The CCP only introduced the concept of “protracted war” in 1938 and only had seven years from then until 1945; if one were to speak of a fourteen-year war of resistance, it means the CCP barely participated for seven years, making their contribution questionable.
The so-called “strategy of protracted war” implied an inability to win decisively, at best leading to a stalemate and attrition. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a contemporary example where Ukraine is at a disadvantage, unable to defeat the Russian military and relying on strong support from the U.S. and NATO to maintain a precarious stalemate on the battlefield.
During the Chinese resistance against Japan, with a stark disparity in military strength between China and Japan, it was challenging for Chinese forces in the east and central plains to maintain a battlefield stalemate, leading them to retreat from the plains and engage in mountainous regions in the central and western parts of China, where they leveraged the terrain against the enemy and gradually solidified their defenses.
At that time, the Nationalist government, like Ukraine today, would have been thrust into a passive position on the battlefield without U.S. assistance. President Zelensky of Ukraine today is doing what Song Meiling did back then, making every effort to secure American support.
The principle of “protracted war” was well understood by most people at the time, realizing that China alone could not defeat Japan and facing a situation similar to present-day Ukraine. The CCP’s boasting of the “theory of protracted war” was not a profound theory but rather an acknowledgment of their incapacity to defeat their opponent; however, the CCP’s true malevolent intent was to let the Nationalist Army engage in prolonged conflict with the Japanese, while the CCP’s forces sought to preserve their strength by all means.
To mislead the public, the CCP deliberately emphasized the so-called guerrilla warfare in the enemy’s rear and battle behind enemy lines, but looking at the current Russia-Ukraine conflict illustrates that direct confrontations between the front lines of both sides are the key to the battlefield. While there may be Ukrainian guerrilla activities in the occupied zones, they cannot prevent the Russian forces from advancing.
It was the U.S. military advancing on the Japanese mainland and dropping atomic bombs that forced Japan’s unconditional surrender, making China a victorious nation and leading to the victory of the war of resistance. It was the U.S. that defeated Japan, as China alone could not have achieved victory over Japan. Today’s Ukraine similarly requires support from the U.S. to potentially compel Russia to cease hostilities, as power dynamics determine outcomes.
The article in People’s Daily mentioned that in 1938, the CCP confirmed Mao Zedong’s leadership position, resolving the unified leadership problem within the party. The CCP propagates the war of resistance but often recalls this historical segment, indicating that while the Nationalist government was fully engaged in the war effort, the CCP was embroiled in internal power struggles.
In the later stages of the war of resistance, which was the most arduous period, the CCP promoted the “Rectification Movement of Yan’an” in 1942, with many young people who were deceived into going to Yan’an suffering and regretting their decisions until 1945. It can be said that throughout most of the war of resistance, the CCP continually engaged in internal purges, including the father of the present CCP leader, Xi Zhongxun. Although Xi Zhongxun was considered an important figure in establishing the CCP’s base in Shaanbei, he was eventually marginalized by the central leadership as a local faction, facing eventual ousting. While Xi Zhongxun managed to survive, his past atrocities were brought up again during the Cultural Revolution, and he still faced secondary repercussions.
Now, after 13 years of mass purges within the CCP, they are once again enmeshed in a chaotic struggle for power, inevitably affecting the CCP military. The CCP, viewing the U.S.—which once aided China in the war of resistance—now as its greatest enemy, finds itself pushed to the sidelines in terms of their confrontation with the U.S. as they try to resolve internal power crises and maintain political authority. The military parade has become a crucial performance to bolster the facade of solidity.
On August 21st, Xinhua News Agency published an article “Detailed Explanation of the Arrangements for the 80th Anniversary Parade Commemorating the Victory of the War of Resistance.” The article interpreted three aspects of the parade: “affirming the military’s obedience to the Party,” “commemorating the victory of the war of resistance,” and showcasing military strength.
While the CCP uses the facade of commemorating the victory of the war of resistance to justify the military parade, their primary concern is the loyalty of the military. Since the violent seizure of power in 1949, the CCP has maintained that “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,” and every change in the CCP’s top leadership inevitably involves purging of the military. In the past 13 years, CCP military leaders were purged unprecedentedly, yet corruption did not subside; the CCP’s top leadership never truly secured military control, with their trusted personnel in the Military Commission ultimately facing purges.
The greatest crisis facing the CCP military now is not about who holds military power or the ability to fight but whether the role of the Party’s army can be sustained. This directly impacts the survival of the CCP regime. In this context, the CCP places emphasis on “Party command first” during the parade, using it as political theater to demonstrate to the public that the CCP’s political power remains secure.
Simultaneously, the CCP attempts to convey externally that they can still leverage the military to threaten and coerce the Chinese people, assuming a thuggish posture and demanding that other countries vouch for their governing legitimacy.
However, this only underscores the precarious situation of the CCP, with top leaders in Zhongnanhai desperately needing grand performances like military parades to uphold their image. After 76 years in power, with the CCP still intensely concerned about whether the military will comply, the task of maintaining this political order is undeniably challenging.
Few countries worldwide, apart from North Korea, Iran, and Cuba, find themselves in similar situations, necessitating military parades to showcase power. A military exists to serve the country and its people, with loyalty to the nation and the people being paramount; soldiers should obey the legitimate commands of their Three Service Chiefs. However, the CCP insists on viewing the military as its private bodyguards, serving the privileged CCP elite, entrenching an abnormal role that is untenable in the long run, leaving CCP leaders perpetually uneasy.
For the CCP, a military parade cannot forestall their demise; their painstaking political performance has already shown its vulnerabilities. Relying on Japan’s invasion of China for survival, backed by Soviet support and Japanese surrender troops in the civil war, the CCP has always acted against China’s interests, and now seeks to capitalize on celebrating the victory of the war of resistance, yet their propaganda loopholes only expose the truth further!
(Note: This rewritten article has been lengthened and interspersed with new lines for improved readability and understanding.)