WAR AGAINST JAPAN INTEGRAL TO VICTORY
As the main Asian battlefield in WWII, China made great sacrifices.
China's anti-Japanese war in the 1930s and 1940s was an important part of the WWII. More than 35 million Chinese were either killed or injured during over eight years of conflict.
In the eight years from 1937, allied forces killed and wounded about 1.95 million Japanese soldiers. About 70 percent of these casualties fell on battlefields in China.
Many Japanese troops were held back from the Soviet Union and Europe in Chinese territory.
China's contribution to the eventual defeat of Japanese militarism and fascist forces helped to usher in of a new era of world peace.
Due to its contribution, China became a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
EFFORTS NOT CONFINED TO ASIA
Chinese servicemen also fought in Europe.
Huang Tingxin, the Chinese mainland's last veteran of the D-Day campaign, died at the age of 91 in 2009.
A quote on the cover of Huang's book reads: "History is remembered for everlasting peace."
In 1942, Huang and 23 other young naval officers were dispatched to study and fight in Britain.
Huang was deployed as deputy watch officer on an escort carrier. He took part in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He also fought at a landing operation with the Allied forces at southern France's Toulon on Aug. 15, 1944.
"Some Chinese soldiers fought on the front line. My comrade Guo Chengsen showered thousands of artillery shells on the Nazis," Huang recalled.
In 2006, Huang was made a Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, France's highest recognition of merit. Upon receiving the medal, Huang said: "The honor goes to all the Chinese soldiers who fought."
On May 7, Chinese veteran Lu Baoping, 97, was granted a medal for his great contribution to the Great Patriotic War, Russia's term for WWII, by the Russian Embassy in China on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Lu joined the anti-Japanese allied forces in 1942 and was stationed in the Soviet Union for three years.
According to the Russian Embassy in China, Russia plans to grant 54 medals to Chinese citizens for their contributions to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory of WWII.
