China and the World from the Perspective of the “September 3rd” Grand Military Parade

On September 3, China held a grand, cutting-edge, and extraordinary military parade in Tiananmen Square to solemnly commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. The event highlighted the great truth that “justice will prevail, peace will prevail, the people will prevail” and declared China’s determination to safeguard world peace and development. This parade attracted global attention and praise, while also provoking sporadic bizarre remarks and even disgraceful retrogressive actions. It can be said that this commemoration and parade of a just war victory demonstrated a strong and powerful China unlike the past, and also reflected the strange and colorful realities of the world.

In 1984, China held a parade in Tiananmen Square to celebrate the 35th anniversary of its founding, ushering in the beginning of Chinese military parades becoming “phenomenal events” of world-class standard. It was the first large-scale parade after the reform and opening up, and for the first time China openly displayed new weapons such as strategic missiles, marking a leap in the modernization of military technology. The troops wore new uniforms, weapons were upgraded, and the achievements of regularized military construction were evident. The call-and-response between the inspecting officer and the soldiers – “Greetings, comrades!” and “Serve the people!” – the forceful and precise triple – stage bayonet drill by the infantry contingent, the heroic spirit of the medical corps and the women’s militia formations, and the iron flow of the armored units were forever etched into the memory of our generation.

For me personally, the 1984 parade was unforgettable also because I personally took part. At the time, as a sophomore, I had the honor to join the student formation of the parade, marching with hundreds of peers from universities in the capital across the Jinshui Bridge. Unlike the soldiers marching in strict unison, we waved our arms enthusiastically, interacting warmly with Chinese and foreign leaders watching from the Tiananmen rostrum. At the front of our formation, some spontaneously held up a banner reading “Hello, Xiaoping,” simply and sincerely expressing the people’s heartfelt gratitude and support for the reform and opening-up, and their love and respect for Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of the reforms.

The 1984 parade coincided with the resounding national slogan “Learn from the women’s volleyball team, rejuvenate China.” At that early stage of transformation, the entire Party, military, and nation were united, focused on economic construction, education, scientific development, and promoting diplomacy in service of reform and opening-up. It sent a clear signal to the world of further modernization and regularization of China’s military and its commitment to peace. A month later, the Chinese government decided to cut the military size by one quarter—1 million personnel—and officially announced this half a year later to build trust with the world. This was epoch-making for military changes in China and worldwide.

This year’s parade was not a National Day celebration centered on displaying national power. It opened with 3,000 university students singing tragic anti-Japanese songs such as “On the Songhua River” and “On the Taihang Mountains,” revealing that the event was a nationwide commemoration marking 80 years since the end of national catastrophe. It was a solemn tribute to 80 years of China’s phoenix-like rebirth. It also announced to the world that China’s anti-fascist war did not begin in 1939 with World War II in Europe, but in 1931, when Japan invaded and occupied Northeast China. The Chinese people fought 14 years of bloody resistance, sacrificing 35 million lives—one tenth of China’s population at the time. This great national sacrifice made an indelible contribution to saving human civilization and safeguarding world peace.

At this parade, 61 foreign heads of state, government leaders, senior representatives, heads of international organizations, and former dignitaries gathered in Beijing to jointly commemorate and honor the World Anti-Fascist War, reinforcing historical friendships forged in blood. The event received significant attention and objective coverage from world media. For example, BBC reporters praised the spirit, professionalism, and world-class equipment of Chinese soldiers during the live broadcast. AFP, instead of using its usual “dark tones” and “imperial filters” when reporting on China’s major events, presented the parade with normal or even bright lighting, showcasing the soldiers’ style.

However, due to the influence of many factors such as changes in international relations, values-based diplomacy, and traditions of military parades, no leaders from major Western countries attended this Chinese grand parade. This is not surprising, because neither the United States nor Europe has ever invited leaders from Eastern front countries, who made outstanding contributions to the anti-fascist war, to their own World War II victory commemorations. Frankly speaking, this tradition itself is a natural extension of the American or European-centric mentality, a great disrespect to Eastern allies in the war of resistance, and even a kind of desecration to the tens of millions of soldiers and civilians who died resisting fascism.

Even more absurd is that in the post-Cold War years, when relations with Russia were good, European countries repeatedly invited Russian leaders to commemorative events such as the Normandy landings. Today, because of the Russia-Ukraine war leading to a rift between Russia and Europe, Western leaders naturally do not want to share the same stage with the Kremlin’s top figure. For reasons of political and social system differences and real contradictions, they also refused to gather in Beijing with leaders from Iran and North Korea. This is understandable. But to criticize China for inviting these leaders to the parade is not only extremely unreasonable and impolite, but also clearly reflects double standards, and even represents a betrayal of historical justice.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kallas declared that China, by holding the parade together with Russia, Iran, and North Korea, is not only opposing the West but also directly challenging the rules-based international order. Such remarks are a mockery of historical facts. They ignore that Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea were all victims of the fascist Axis powers, ignore the huge sacrifices they made for victory in the anti-fascist war, ignore the crucial contribution of Eastern allies in preventing German fascists and Japanese fascists from joining forces, ignore the immense trauma caused by Japanese invaders in European colonial territories in Asia-Pacific, ignore China’s significant role in tying down Japan’s main forces in the East to relieve pressure on the US-European allied forces, and even ignore the disgraceful history of Britain and the Soviet Union reoccupying neutral Iran in order to fight fascism.

Some people ask: Middle Eastern countries are generally friendly with China and relations have been very close in recent years, so why was it rare for their heads of state or government leaders to attend the “September 3rd” parade? It must be pointed out that for Middle Eastern countries, World War II was generally full of painful memories, as in the case of occupied Iran. At that time, most of them were not yet independent, but rather colonies or semi-colonies of European powers, serving as slaughter grounds crushed by the repeated struggles between fascist Germany-Italy and their former colonial masters. After World War II, Middle Eastern countries gradually achieved national independence. But they had neither historical ties nor emotional bonds with the Eastern front, and in today’s tangled international relations, their identities and circumstances are delicate. Moreover, they have no tradition of commemorating World War II. Therefore, most of them stayed away from the Beijing parade, which is not only understandable but also highlights China’s adherence to its diplomatic principle of non-alignment, non-coercion, equality among countries regardless of size, and mutual respect. It also shows that China and Middle Eastern countries can coexist harmoniously while maintaining differences, acting at their own convenience, and coming together or parting ways as circumstances allow.

The US government’s mentality toward China’s parade is rather complicated, which is not surprising. President Trump, who had repeatedly expressed his eagerness to visit China as soon as possible, failed to do so for well-known reasons and felt regretful. This time he admitted that he had watched the entire Beijing parade by video and exclaimed: “China’s Victory Day parade was wonderful, shocking, and impressive.” Afterwards, Trump posted on social media emphasizing that “America’s great support for China’s war of resistance must not be forgotten. I wish the Chinese leaders and people a great and lasting day of celebration.” But then he also bitterly and darkly claimed that China was “conspiring with Russia and North Korea against the United States.” Such fickle and contradictory behavior explains why he always longed to visit China but never received an official invitation from Beijing.

US Secretary of Defense Hegseth, speaking about the parade, stated that Trump had instructed the Department of Defense to “be prepared,” emphasizing that “it is not because we seek conflict, not because we want conflict with China, Russia, or other countries, but because being prepared can avoid conflict. America’s task is to safeguard its own strategic plans.” According to foreign media reports, immediately after the Chinese parade ended, the Pentagon ordered a large quantity of pizzas and fast food to work overtime analyzing the numerous cutting-edge weapons and equipment China had just displayed for the first time.

At this grand parade, former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama still personally came to Beijing with a “heart of reflection and apology” to witness and commemorate together, which is truly moving and admirable. Unfortunately, Japanese politicians with such a correct view of history are extremely rare and even hard to sustain. This year, the Japanese government spent huge sums lobbying around the world to persuade countries to boycott China’s commemoration and parade, and maliciously attacked this just and legitimate Victory Day commemoration as “anti-Japanese propaganda.” This exposed the fact that Japanese politicians have always lacked an overall, systematic, even verbal reflection and remorse for that inhuman history of aggression. It also further warns the Chinese government and people that, in view of the lessons of external threats since the First Sino-Japanese War, they must maintain strong national defense forces, must maintain strong military deterrence, and must deter any political attempts or ambitions to justify aggression, to condone militarism and fascism, or even to attempt to revive them, whether they come from Europe or Asia.

Looking beyond the reality of the “September 3rd” parade, facing a world still plagued by wars, we should be grateful for the Chinese government’s defensive national defense policy and peaceful diplomacy, which have allowed generations of Chinese people to stay away from war and killing, to enjoy peace and prosperity, and to enjoy the happiness of complete families. The world should be even more grateful that China, though vast, does not bully the weak; though militarily strong, it is not warlike. Although China has territorial and maritime disputes with its neighbors, in nearly half a century it has never sent troops abroad, never threatened any small country with force, including tolerating the illegal occupation of Chinese territory in the South China Sea by some weak countries, without resorting to force, always showing restraint and endurance. A China already quite strong is especially unlike the United States, which is addicted to war, almost fighting every year and everywhere; unlike European countries, which under the NATO framework repeatedly send troops, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, overthrow other governments, or launch proxy wars. Instead, China wholeheartedly seeks its own development, world peace, and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

It cannot be denied that China is still a developing country, certainly with various problems and difficulties, certainly not the flawless “ideal state.” But simply by adhering to the path of peace and development, adhering to the principle of self-defense, and committing to never being the first to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances, and unconditionally never using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states or nuclear-free zones, this national policy is enough to prove that today’s China is a model for world peace and development, a safe harbor worthy of praise by the peoples of all countries, and a responsible great power.

The Sima Fa says: “Though a nation is great, if it loves war it will perish; though the world is at peace, forgetting war will bring danger.” “Weapons must not be treated as playthings, for if they are, they lose their deterrence; weapons must not be abandoned, for if they are, they invite the enemy.” To sleep on arms awaiting dawn, to hold arms to stop war, to be always prepared to secure long-lasting peace—this is not only a conclusion drawn from historical experience and lessons, but also the practical need and lasting value of holding a grand parade for the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japan and the World Anti-Fascist War.