China yesterday unveiled its official logo for the upcoming commemorations of victory over Japan 70 years ago in World War II, invoking both peace in the form of doves and robust nationalism with Communist colors and imagery of the Great Wall of China.
The symbol is centered around a large red “70,” representing the number of years since 1945, and what Beijing officially calls the end of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, also known as the World Anti-Fascist War.
Five flying doves ascend from right to left, starting in red and ending in yellow, and the lower part depicts a V-shaped Great Wall. The logo’s dominant colors are red and yellow, the same as the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and China’s post-1949 national flag.
Xinhua news agency, citing the Chinese State Council Information Office, said that the V-shaped Great Wall represents China’s national unity, as well as holding the usual meaning of victory.
The five doves “demonstrate the memory of history and the aspiration for peace, representing people from the five continents, united and moving together toward a beautiful future after going through ‘blood and fire,’” Xinhua said.
The birds “also symbolize the Chinese people are flying to a future of great rejuvenation under the leadership of the [Chinese] Communist Party,” Xinhua added.
The phrasing is a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) much-quoted concept of a “Chinese dream.”
The logo’s release comes in the run-up to the centerpiece of the commemorations, a huge military parade through Beijing on Sept. 3 — the day after the anniversary of Japanese forces’ formal surrender.
As well as victory over Japan, the events are also meant to mark the broader global defeat of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, regimes that were bound with Tokyo in the Axis alliance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he plans to attend the ceremony, and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense has confirmed Russian troops are to take part in the event.
Moscow held its own parade in May to celebrate victory over Nazi Germany, which was attended by Xi.
Most Western leaders stayed away due to lingering tensions over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.
They are also expected to shun the Beijing parade, which is to pass through Tiananmen Square, where student-led protesters demanded democratic reforms in 1989 before the CCP sent in troops to crush the demonstrations, killing hundreds and possibly thousands of unarmed protesters and onlookers.
Beijing’s Changan Avenue, which runs along the north side of the square, has been equipped with “an explosion proof layer underneath” ahead of the parade, the Global Times newspaper — which is affiliated with CCP mouthpiece the People’s Daily — reported yesterday, adding that the protection was for “security and air defense purposes.”
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