President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to study the significance of China's resistance against Japanese invasion and its role in World War II.[Special coverage]
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks at a study session attended by members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Thursday.
Xi said, "We would like to show our firm resolve to safeguard the fruits of WWII victory as well as justice and fairness in the international order. The Chinese will honor history, never forget the past, value peace and look forward."
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the end of WWII.
Research of this era of history should "follow the right direction and focus on the mainstream and true nature of the resistance against Japanese invasion," the president said. "We should refute with solid facts those arguments that try to distort, deny or whitewash the history of invasion."
Japan invaded northeast China in September 1931. However, historians agree that the full-scale invasion began on July 7, 1937, when a bridge that acted as a crucial access point to Beijing was attacked by the Japanese.
Xi urged researchers to study events from 1931 as well as those after 1937.
Major players and incidents during the war should be "correctly assessed," said Xi, stressing that as the backbone of the resistance force, the CPC played an essential part to ensure the victory in the war.
Efforts should be made to clarify issues such as the significance of regional resistance against Japan to the war, the importance of battles behind enemy lines compared with those at the frontline, as well as the significance of China's resistance against Japan to WWII.
The president also pledged to collect more evidence, including archives and witness accounts.
China will gather archives, photos, videos, newspapers, magazines, books, private journals, letters and objects about the anti-Japanese war nationally and globally. Particularly, the government and research institutes will visit more witnesses and record their accounts.
When summarizing the significance of the victory, Xi said it utterly crushed Japanese militarism's scheme to enslave China, resurrected China's status as a big power in the world, and created bright prospects for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Xi said the war, which ended 70 years ago, marked the first thorough victory over foreign invasions in contemporary Chinese history. "The great victory was also the Chinese people's significant contribution to the victory in the world anti-Fascist war and safeguarding world peace."
Compared with the war's significant historical status and impact, however, research on China's wartime history has been insufficient, and more systematic and in-depth study is needed, Xi said.
The President asked authorities to step up coordination at the national level, set medium and long-term plans and nail down key research projects and directions.
Both national and local research institutes and personnel should be integrated, non-governmental research supported, and systematic study of the resistance against Japan should be carried out in the military, political, economic, cultural, social, diplomatic and international fields, Xi said.
Xi called for more high-quality academic work and popular literature on China's war history and demanded the country's social science and publication funds subsidize related research.
Efforts should be made to have China's contributions to the world anti-Fascist war recognized globally, Xi said.
The president also urged efforts to enable historians and institutions across the Taiwan Strait to share historical documents, jointly compile historical records, and jointly safeguard national dignity and honor.
China has scheduled a series of events as the 70th anniversary of the victory in the anti-Japanese aggression war and the victory in the world anti-Fascist war approaches, which will culminate in a parade on Sept. 3 in Beijing.
Xi said authorities should hold various publicity and educational activities and better protect and use historical sites to help the Chinese people remember wartime history and carry on the national spirit of the Anti-Japanese War.
