Honoring shared history for a bright future together

As we mark the 80th anniversary of victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, we honor a truth often overlooked: the Eastern battlefield was equally vital and paved the way for eventual Allied victory.

With over 35 million casualties, China's resistance tied down 600,000 Japanese troops that might have overrun Southeast Asia, including the Philippines. When General MacArthur vowed "I shall return" to Leyte in 1944, Chinese forces had already been draining Japanese resources for seven years through battles like Shanghai (1937) and Taierzhuang (1938).

When Japan struck Pearl Harbor in December 1941, its Southern Expansion Plan was already crippled—35 veteran divisions were weighed down by the righteous and resolute resistance of Chinese forces defending their homeland.

The then U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stressed for multiple times the importance of the China theater to the Allied countries' very survival and victory, to the effect that without China holding the line, Japan could slice through Burma, throttle India, seize Australia, and link hands with the Nazis in the Caucasus. Russia would be isolated, the Middle East oilfields lost, and the U.S. in peril.

Acts of solidarity ran all along China's front line. Over 3,200 overseas Chinese drivers and mechanics from Southeast Asia volunteered to transport strategic materials along the Yunnan-Myanmar Road. "The Hump" airlift transport delivered hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel and munitions to Allied forces. Chinese farmers rescued over 1,000 downed U.S. airmen flying this perilous yet strategic lifeline. Chinese workers hauled essential war materials like tungsten and tung oil along the Yangtze River under bombardment to feed Allied war production and maintenance.

The shared history binds our nations. After Japan invaded the Philippines on Dec. 8, 1941, Chinese-Filipinos and overseas Chinese courageously stood alongside local Filipinos in resisting Japanese occupation. They organized “Philippine-Chinese Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Forces”, the “Philippine Overseas Chinese Great Anti-Japanese and Anti-Collaborator League” and the “Philippine Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese and Purging Collaborators Volunteer Corps,” which became a formidable force in the resistance. Their blood mingled with Filipino soil, creating bonds between our two peoples that no force can sever.

China remains committed to building a community with a shared future for mankind, acting on the common vision of a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home with all neighboring countries, including the Philippines.

Eighty years ago, a devastating world war reshaped the world, where nations upholding justice and peace wrote that chapter of history with blood and toil. Today, amid frequent conflicts and turmoil, nations must heed the lessons of the historical tragedies: cherish the fragile peace, uphold the common values of humanity, and safeguard our only home.

The bamboo that bent but never broke during wartime now builds bridges of friendship. May our peoples, who suffered together under fascism, continue championing true freedom and jointly strive for a bright future!