UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks during an interview with Chinese media at the UN headquarters in New York, the United States, Aug. 28, 2015. (Photo: Xinhua/Li Muzi)
As China is preparing for the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, world political leaders, experts and scholars have stressed that the war is a crucial part of world anti-Fascist war and the Chinese people have made great sacrifices and contributions.[Special coverage]
"China's contribution and sacrifice during the Second World War is very much recognized, (China is) appreciated for all such sufferings, and sympathized by the world's people," said Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General.
Ban also said that it is very important now for the world to learn from the past lessons and look forward in order to build a better world.
The Chinese people's role in defeating Fascism deserves greater recognition as China made huge sacrifices for world peace when fighting alongside other countries during World War II, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
China, a main battlefield in the Asian continent during WWII, witnessed several important battles that led to the surrender of the Japanese militarists in 1945.
Thanks to the country's long and arduous resistance against Japanese aggressor troops, Japan was pinned down and South Asia and Australia were secured from an invasion, he added.
Jumankulov Imangalievich, a Kazakh political expert, said the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression not only earned China the survival rights and international status, but also gave great support to the World Anti-Fascist War.
The Japanese aggressor troops were pinned down on the Chinese battlefield, thus leaving great room for the Soviet Union to fight against the Nazi Germany, he said.
"China's resistance to Japanese aggression can be called one of the most heroic and tragic pages of World War II," said Oleksiy Koval, a member of Ukrainian Sinologists Association.
Koval also called for efforts to study the significance of China's contribution to the resistance against fascism to better understand history and learn lessons from it.
José Luis Barceló, a Spanish military expert, pointed out that China' s contributions to the World Anti-Fascist War have been underestimated for long time.
He said the Chinese battlefield was opened in 1931, and China made great sacrifices to contain the aggressive momentum of Japanese forces.
Barceló believed that more and more military experts have begun to focus on China's role in the World War II, with more and more deeper studies underway.
Abdul Wahhab, former Egyptian ambassador to China, said that the contribution to the world anti-Fascist war victory made by the majority of the Third World countries including China should be remembered for ever.
The Chinese people's anti-Japanese aggression war began the earliest and lasted the longest. During the war, China made tremendous sacrifices including 35 million deaths and injuries. These facts deserve to be known and remembered by the world people, Abdul Wahhab stressed.
Koketsu Atsushi, vice president of the Yamaguchi University in Japan held that the Chinese people's war resisting Japanese aggression was a great one.
Under the condition of extremely scarce funds and resources, the nation, relying on patriotism, solidarity of its people and the leadership of the Communist Party of China, finally defeated the Japanese invaders, Atsushi said.
Chinese people's anti-Japanese aggression war was not merely a war between two countries, but a war of international significance. It was a war that put an end to aggression and proved the solidarity and courage of the people in realizing peace.
