Always Standing on the Side of Justice and Light

During a state visit upon invitation to Russia from May 7 to 10, 2025, President Xi Jinping attended a celebration marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in the Great Patriotic War. To coincide with his visit, President Xi also published a signed article in the Russian Gazette titled “Learning from History to Build Together a Brighter Future.” In this article, he stressed that we must learn from history, especially the hard lessons of World War II, draw wisdom and strength from the great victory of the World War Against Fascism, and resolutely resist all forms of hegemonism and power politics. He also underscored the need to work together to build a brighter future for humanity. This message represents a call for justice to the world and a vision for charting a brighter path forward.

I

Looking back on the momentous events of 80 years ago when righteous forces around the world heroically defeated the fascist powers, President Xi reminded the world of the need to maintain a correct perspective on World War II and serve as guardians of memories of the past.

Launched by militarist and fascist forces, World War II was an unprecedented catastrophe for humanity. As the main theaters in Asia and Europe during the war, China and the Soviet Union made decisive contributions to and enormous sacrifices for victory in the World War Against Fascism. They performed historic feats in order to defend human dignity and restore world peace. In the face of ironclad historical facts, no attempt to distort the true history of World War II, gainsay the outcomes of victory in the war, or denigrate the contributions of China and the Soviet Union will succeed.

China and the Soviet Union will succeed. China and the Soviet Union were the bedrock of the fight against Japanese militarism and German Nazism

In the Asian theater, the Chinese people’s 14-year-long War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression started earlier and lasted longer than any other conflict in World War II. In this heroic and stirring fight for national survival, China suffered over 35 million casualties and indirect economic losses exceeding US$500 billion. The Chinese resistance inflicted over 1.5 million casualties on the Japanese army, accounting for more than 70% of its total casualties in World War II. After the Lugou Bridge Incident of 1937, around one million Japanese ground forces were consistently tied down on China’s battlefields, at times accounting for over 90% of Japan’s entire army.

The Guard of Honor of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army attends a grand parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory in the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War, Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2025. Eighty years ago, the forces of justice around the world, including China and the Soviet Union, put up a courageous fight against their common foes. Eventually, they defeated the overbearing fascist powers, achieving a great victory in a decisive confrontation between justice and evil, light and darkness, and progress and reaction. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER BAI XUEQI

During this monumental struggle, the Communist Party of China (CPC) made distinguished contributions and emerged as the leading political core. It was the first to call for armed resistance and to launch resistance activities; it championed the creation of a Chinese united front against Japanese aggression and worked tirelessly to safeguard and consolidate it; and it advocated for a war of total resistance and the overarching strategy of a protracted war. The vast backstage battlefields opened up by the CPC and the people’s resistance forces under its leadership became the decisive factor in sustaining the resistance and achieving ultimate victory, particularly after the war entered a strategic stalemate. In this phase, 58-75% of invading Japanese troops and almost all collaborationist forces were engaged and pinned down on these battlefields. The Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was decisive in bringing about the complete destruction of Japanese fascism, thus making an indelible contribution to ultimate victory in World War II and the defense of world peace.

In the European theater, the Soviet Red Army withstood Nazi Germany’s most ferocious offensive. It destroyed or disabled over 500 German divisions, effectively crippling the Nazi war machine. For most of the war, 75-80% of German forces had to be deployed on the eastern front, and 73% of all Germany’s wartime casualties were incurred in fighting against the Soviet Red Army. The Soviet Union suffered enormous casualties in the war. It claimed the lives of 27 million Soviet people, with one out of every seven citizens perished by the time fighting ceased. With iron resolve and dedication, the Soviet Red Army crushed the ambitions of the Nazi invaders and liberated peoples enslaved by German fascism, writing the triumphant epic of the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War.

Visitors tour a special exhibition commemorating the 87th anniversary of the beginning of China’s nationwide resistance against Japan’s invasion at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Beijing, July 7, 2024. During the 20th-century World War Against Fascism, the Chinese people, through huge national sacrifice, propped up the main theater in the East, making a major contribution to victory in the war. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER ZHANG CHENLIN

The Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was pivotal to the World War Against Fascism

World War II was a war of aggression launched by the fascist bloc of Germany, Italy, and Japan in a bid for world domination. Japan was the most aggressive of these militarist nations. Its basic national policy was to seize “Manchuria” and “Mongolia,” occupy all of China, annex Asia, and contend for global hegemony. These steps also constituted the strategic phases of its foreign aggression and expansion. 

The first flames of fascist aggression were lit in 1931 when Japan instigated the September 18th Incident and invaded Northeast China. This was the first step for the Axis of Japan, Germany, and Italy in attempting to carve up the world between them. From that moment forward, Japanese fascism became a ruthless enemy of the people in China and around the world. History thrust the Chinese nation to the forefront of the anti-fascist fight, as the September 18th Incident marked the start of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and lifted the curtain on the World War Against Fascism.

In January 1939, Mao Zedong pointed out in the preface to the English translation of On Protracted War that “The great war of resistance now being waged by China is not merely the affair of China and the East, it is also the affair of the world.” On the eve of Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler had expressed a hope that Japan would advance into Siberia from Manchuria. Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke also strongly advocated for war against the Soviet Union, favoring a pincer attack on the USSR in coordination with Germany. However, by exposing Japan's critical weakness—its limited military forces—the Chinese resistance thwarted the Japanese plan to strike northward and invade Siberia. The Soviet Union was thus able to avoid fighting on two fronts. 

By holding back and delaying Japan’s southward advance, China’s resistance also limited the military pressure Japanese forces could exert on Britain, the United States, and other nations fighting in the Pacific theater. Both strategically and tactically, China’s resistance supported and coordinated with Allied military operations, playing a vital role in ensuring implementation of the Allies, grand strategy of “Europe first, Asia second.” As a crucial strategic base for Allied operations against Japan in the Asia-Pacific region, China provided the Allies with substantial strategic materials and military intelligence and supported the Allied war effort with manpower, material supplies, and financial resources. Moreover, as the first country to fall victim to fascist aggression, China made persistent and unremitting efforts to establish an international united front against fascism, ultimately contributing to its formal creation. 

History shows that the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was an integral part of the World War Against Fascism. China fought not only for its own future but that of all humanity.

No attempt to whitewash or overturn the verdict on Japan’s history of militarist aggression will succeed

During World War II, Japanese militarists inflicted untold suffering on the peoples of China and other nations across Asia with the wars of aggression they launched and the countless atrocities they committed. Yet even today, Japan continues to witness repeated attempts to glorify its wars of aggression and colonial rule. Some Japanese politicians and right-wing forces have tried to stand the truth on its head, painting China’s legitimate acts of self-defense in that period as “provocations” in an effort to evade responsibility for the war. They have attempted to confuse and mislead the public by downplaying the fact that Japan was the initial aggressor in the war, while disproportionately highlighting Japan's identity as an atomic bomb victim. They have also pushed to revise Japan’s pacifist constitution (originally designed to prevent the revival of militarism) and falsify history textbooks. They continue to deny atrocities like the Nanjing Massacre and the existence of “comfort women” despite an abundance of incontrovertible evidence. Moreover, some politicians have repeatedly visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines Class-A war criminals. These actions have constituted a grave offense against the peoples of Asian countries, including China, and neighboring nations, who have all expressed strong protest and opposition. 

An accurate understanding and proper treatment of history are the vital prerequisites underpinning Japan’s postwar reintegration into the international community. They also form the political foundation for the development of Japan’s relations with neighboring countries and serve as a crucial measure of whether Japan can honor its commitment to peaceful development. Japan must prevent any revival of its militaristic past—this remains an inescapable historical responsibility for the country, and it reflects the resolute will of the Chinese people and the broader Asian community, which is not open to challenge. Japan must squarely face and sincerely reflect on its history of aggression, earnestly draw lessons from the past, and adopt a responsible attitude toward history, the people, and the future, so as to sever all ties with attempts to glorify its aggressive past and remain firmly on the path of peaceful development. Only by taking concrete steps in this regard can it earn the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community, and thus open the door to a bright future.

History cannot be rewritten, and facts cannot be erased. Any denial of this history of aggression—or worse, any attempt to glorify war—cannot but provoke deep indignation and heightened vigilance among all peace-loving peoples worldwide, including the Chinese people. Any schemes that selfishly seek to gain an edge in today’s geopolitical competition by distorting history, any fallacies that attempt to warp the collective historical memory of humanity using hegemony in the arena of public opinion, and any acts that blur the lines between right and wrong by denigrating the memory of heroic martyrs of China and the Soviet Union amount to a violation of and attack on the conscience and dignity of humanity. Only by condemning fascist war criminals as perpetrators of crimes against humanity to perpetual infamy, and only by upholding the just integrity, historical significance, and contemporary relevance of the Chinese and Soviet resistance against fascism, can we prevent the tragedies of World War II from recurring and halt any regression to the darkness of the past. This is also the only way to move forward with the trends of the times and firmly steer the cause of world peace and development in the correct direction. 

II

When reflecting on the tumultuous course of world development and the evolution of international relations over the past 80 years, President Xi called on the international community to resolutely uphold the post-war international order and promote an equal and orderly multipolar world as well as universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.

Building on the victory in World War II, China joined with other key members of the alliance against fascism to establish the United Nations (UN) in 1945 and formulate the UN Charter, thus ushering in a new chapter of nations working together to foster peace and pursue common development. It can be said that the international system centered on the UN is a concentrated embodiment of the outcomes of victory in World War II. It has become the cornerstone for the post-war international order and the most important platform for maintaining world peace and conducting global governance. The UN Charter is a crucial guide for preventing future generations from suffering the ravages of war; the collective security mechanism centered on the Security Council provides an essential guarantee for international peace and security; and the UN, as the world’s most universal, representative, and authoritative intergovernmental international organization, is the best foundation we have for maintaining world peace, practicing multilateralism, and promoting greater democracy in international relations. 

Over the past 80 years, despite dramatic changes and turbulence in the international landscape, the UN has stood the test of time, underpinning global stability and prosperity, guaranteeing the fundamental framework for general peace, and driving substantial progress for humanity.

However, 80 years on from the UN’s establishment, a certain country is now choosing to take a “me-first” approach, engaging in power politics and hegemony and seeking to replace multilateralism with unilateralism and to supplant the post-war international order with self-proclaimed rules. Such actions have had an unprecedented impact on the UN. The various confrontations and injustices we see in the world today are occurring not because the purposes and principles of the UN Charter are outdated, but because they have not been effectively implemented.

As a permanent member of the Security Council, China firmly upholds the central role of the UN. In February 2025, at the UN Security Council, China chaired a high-level meeting on Practicing Multilateralism, Reforming and Improving Global Governance. More than 100 countries signed up to attend the event, kicking off commemorations for the UN’s 80th anniversary. This initiative provided an opportunity for all sides to revisit the founding mission of the UN and reaffirm commitment to the purposes and principles of its Charter. It also demonstrated China’s sense of responsibility as a permanent member of the Security Council. Furthermore, multipolarity and economic globalization represent the prevailing development trends for the world. Achieving an equal and orderly multipolar world and promoting universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization are in the common interests of all countries. 

History can enlighten us about the present and shed light on the future. The international community should stand firm in safeguarding the international system with the UN at its core, the world order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms governing relations among countries based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. We must ensure that all countries can participate equally, enjoy their rights, and play their role in the process toward a multipolar world, and see that all countries, strata, and populations can enjoy the benefits of economic globalization.

This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the restoration of Taiwan. As President Xi has noted, “Taiwan’s restoration to China is a victorious outcome of World War II and an integral part of the postwar international order.” Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. The victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression put Taiwan back under China’s sovereign jurisdiction. Both the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, issued by major victorious nations of World War II, stated in explicit terms that Taiwan is a territory that Japan had stolen from the Chinese, and shall be restored to China. Japan also accepted the terms of the Potsdam Proclamation and announced its unconditional surrender. All these confirm China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and form an important part of the postwar international order. In 1971, the 26th session of the UN General Assembly adopted, with an overwhelming majority, Resolution 2758, and the decision was made to restore all rights of the People’s Republic of China in the UN and to expel forthwith the representatives of the Taiwan region from the UN and all the organizations related to it. This resolution resolved, once and for all, the issue of the representation of the whole of China, including Taiwan, in the UN. It made clear that there is no such thing as “two Chinas,” or “one China, one Taiwan.” The principle of sovereignty is the cornerstone of the UN Charter. Respect for all countries, sovereignty and territorial integrity should mean support for China’s complete reunification. Commitment to the one-China principle should mean opposition to any form of “Taiwan independence.” No matter how the situation on the island of Taiwan evolves or what trouble external forces may attempt to cause, the trend toward China’s ultimate and inevitable reunification is unstoppable.

III

When considering the question of where the future course for humanity lies amid accelerating once-in-a-century changes around the world, President Xi called on all countries to firmly defend international fairness and justice and work together to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

At present, the global deficits in peace, development, security, and governance continue to grow unabated. Unilateralism, hegemonism, bullying, and coercive practices are severely undermining our world. Once again, humanity has come to a crossroads where we must choose between unity and division, dialogue and confrontation, and win-win cooperation and zero-sum games. The painful lessons of World War II remain a sober reminder for us all: The world must never return to the law of the jungle where might makes right. President Xi’s vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity has guided China in upholding fairness and justice in its diplomacy. It has enabled us to take bold action and make unremitting efforts to address the aforementioned global deficits, so that we can see humanity moving toward a brighter future.

A copy of the UN Charter. This year marks the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War, and the World War Against Fascism. It also marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. Eighty years ago, China and the Soviet Union were among the first to sign the UN Charter, joining with other key members of the anti-fascist alliance to usher in the creation of an international system with the United Nations at its center. XINHUA / PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE UNITED NATIONS

Advancing reform of the global governance system based on the principles of equity and justice

Amid the continued development of economic globalization and world multipolarity, the collective rise and political reawakening of the Global South have only served to underscore the lack of representation and voice afforded to developing countries in the global governance system. As the world’s largest developing country and a key member of the Global South, China actively works to safeguard the legitimate rights, interests, and development space of developing nations. In addressing differences and disputes between nations, we uphold the principle of equality among all countries, regardless of size, balance the interests of all parties, accommodate mutual concerns, respect sovereignty, and advocate fairness and justice. 

Based on a global governance approach featuring shared growth through discussion and collaboration, we have stood against the monopolization of international affairs by a handful of countries and strived to enhance the representation and voice of developing countries in global governance. By proposing the Belt and Road Initiative and leading or taking part in the establishment of new international cooperation mechanisms, such as the New Development Bank, we have promoted closer collaboration with developing countries on global governance issues and helped build momentum for the reform and improvement of the global governance system. In 2023, China lent its strong backing to the African Union’s accession to the G20, the premier forum for global economic governance. This year, China will firmly support the hosting of the first G20 Summit in Africa, the continent with the most developing countries. It hopes to see both Africa and the Global South making a stronger imprint on global governance.

Practicing true multilateralism and promoting unity and cooperation in the international community

Multilateralism is an effective pathway for maintaining peace and promoting development. However, with a certain country choosing to take a “me-first” approach, acting unilaterally, and walking out of international organizations and agreements, multilateralism and international cooperation have been severely undermined. This has only served to provoke division and confrontation and cause fragmentation around the world. Driven by their own selfish interests, some countries and forces peddle various forms of pseudo-multilateralism. On the face of it, they wave the flag of multilateral cooperation, but what they really seek is to create exclusive blocs. They purport to abide by the rules, while in practice, they treat international law as a tool to be used when convenient and discarded when not. They ostensibly call for fair competition, but in reality, they have a “winner-takes-all” approach and deny the legitimate development rights and interests of other countries. 

In response, China has advocated the idea of “true multilateralism” to help the international community clearly see what is really going on. China maintains that there is only one system in the world—the UN-centered international system; only one order—the international order based on international law; and only one set of rules—the basic norms governing international relations grounded in the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. China is committed to openness and inclusiveness, not isolation and exclusion. It is committed to international law and international rules, not seeking its own supremacy, and it engages in consultation and cooperation, not conflict and confrontation. China will always work to develop multilateral mechanisms, champion multilateral principles, and promote international cooperation. 

Looking around the world, a growing number of countries and international organizations are eager to forge new partnerships and expand their circle of friends in order to realize mutually beneficial outcomes through cooperation. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has grown from six members into a large family of 26 countries, forming the world’s most extensive regional cooperation organization in terms of both territory and population. The BRICS has become an exemplar of multilateralism, successively welcoming six new members and nine new partner countries into its ranks.

Implementing the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilizations Initiative as concrete and substantive steps for building a community with a shared future for humanity

China has helped raise nearly US$20 billion in development funding, established the Group of Friends of the Global Development Initiative at the UN and set up the Global Development Promotion Center. Up to now, more than 30 cooperation platforms have been launched with over 1,100 projects focusing on eight priority areas, including poverty alleviation and food security. Twenty priorities have been identified and five cooperation platforms and mechanisms have been established under the Global Security Initiative, playing an active role in safeguarding global strategic stability. It has proposed mechanisms for promoting the implementation of the Global Civilizations Initiative, with a view to upholding the shared values of humanity. It has also promoted the establishment of an International Day for Dialogue Among Civilizations at the UN General Assembly and supported all countries in pursuing development paths suited to their own conditions.

Furthermore, China has taken the lead in setting up the Global South Think Tanks Alliance, promoted the establishment of the China-Arab Center for the Global Civilizations Initiative, and proposed the hosting of a conference on inter-civilizational dialogue between China and Latin American countries. These efforts have created favorable conditions for people-to-people exchanges and dialogue in various fields, including culture, education, science and technology, health, sports, tourism, and media, as well as among think tanks. They have effectively promoted mutual cultural learning between China and other countries and fostered stronger understanding and friendship between people in China and around the world. These three aforementioned global initiatives have garnered support from over 100 countries, underscoring China’s influence and appeal as an enabling force in the world.

Eighty years ago, confronted by the ruthless forces of fascism, people around the world remained undaunted in the face of tyranny and unafraid of the sacrifices they had to make. They chose to firmly stand on the side of justice and light, ultimately achieving a great victory. Now eight decades later, at this critical moment in the intense struggle between the forces of hegemony and those who oppose it, we believe that all who stand for justice over hegemony will unite closely together. They will stand as firmly as ever on the side of the common interests of all nations, on the right side of history, and on the side of progress for humanity. Together, we will strive to secure a brighter future for all humankind.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 11, 2025)