China prepares to celebrate 80 years since World War II victory over fascism

A 70-minute parade featuring new military equipment and a new stage of Chinese modernization. This was the dress rehearsal last Sunday, August 17, for the upcoming 80th anniversary celebration of what China officially calls the Victory of the Chinese People against Japanese Aggression, or even the World War against Fascism, as the Second World War (1930-1945) is called in the Asian giant. The official parade will take place on September 3, following Chang’an Avenue, which passes through Tiananmen Square.

On Wednesday, August 20, Brasil de Fato visited one of the restricted military areas in Beijing to follow part of the troop training for the commemorative parade. Lu Rongqiao, first sergeant of the Honor and Ceremonial Guard Contingent of the People’s Liberation Army, said that the objective of the celebrations is to “promote the great spirit of the great victory of the War against Japanese Aggression”.

There are varying estimates of the deaths caused by Japan’s invasion of China, which lasted from 1931 to 1945. One of the main estimates records over 20 million human losses. The Nanjing Massacre of 1937 was one of the largest and most brutal, claiming the lives of over 300,000 Chinese men and women.

“It’s mainly about remembering history, remembering the martyrs, valuing peace and building the future,” says Sergeant Lu Rongqiao.

Captain Shi Bin, a member of the Honor Guard of the People’s Liberation Army, was one of the Honor Guard members who participated in the Victory Day parade on Red Square in Moscow on May 9th of this year.

When asked about the importance of placing the defeat of Nazi-fascism at the center of World War II, he states that the purpose of the commemorations is to “honor the martyrs”. “We are not perpetuating hatred, but rather defending peace.”

New journey of Chinese-style modernization

The last military parade at Tiananmen Square was in 2019, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Since its founding in 1949, there have been 16 military parades at the square.

The one on September 3 will be the second parade celebrating the victory against Japan, the first was in 2015.

The victory against the Japanese invasion meant the end of what the Chinese call the Century of Humiliation, which began with the British attacks in the so-called First Opium War (1839-1842) and ended with the revolution led by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949.

The upcoming parade will also have significance in the timeline China has charted over the past few decades. It will be the first parade under what the country calls a “new journey of Chinese modernization“. This period aims to achieve socialist modernization by 2035.

The proposed period is 2022, that is, after the end of the first of two important centenaries for China: that of the Party (1921-2021) and that of the People’s Republic (1949-2049).

Defense structure

The celebration will also allow China to showcase a series of new-generation weapons. On Wednesday morning, Major General Wu Zeke of the Central Military Commission explained that “a batch of advanced equipment, such as hypersonic weapons, anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems, and strategic missiles, will be debuted.”

“It can be said that the level of computerization and intelligence of the weaponry and equipment that will be paraded is quite high,” Wu announced.

The development of China’s defense infrastructure is seen within the country as a guarantee of Chinese sovereignty. China’s military budget represents 1.6% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), well below the 6% of the United States, according to a survey by the Tricontinental: Institute of Natural Resources.

According to the entity’s study, Chinese military spending in 2022 did not even represent 30% of US spending.

This article was first published by Brasil de Fato in Portuguese.