China’s planned military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, to which Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have been invited, shows Beijing’s historical revisionism about World War II, a national security official said yesterday.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the military parade, which is to be held on Tiananmen Square, would commemorate “the 80th anniversary of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the broader World Anti-fascist War.”
The gathering of authoritarian leaders is aimed at reshaping the global narrive about WWII and divert attention from China’s economic woes and purges in its military, the official said.
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The parade serves four main purposes: First, it is a show of force, which is different from how most democratic nations deal with issues through diplomacy and economic measures, they said.
Second, China is promoting an alliance of authoritarians challenging the US-led global order.
Third, Beijing wants to alter the global narrative about WWII by saying that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led China to victory over Japan, thereby asseting sovereignty over Taiwan, the official said, adding that China has also launched a disinformation campaign distorting UN Resolution 2758, which does not mention Taiwan at all.
Beijing is also replacing its “eight-year war of resistance” discourse with a “14-year war of resistance” discourse, exaggerating the CCP’s role in WWII and emphasizing its claim of inheriting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Republic of China (ROC), the official said, adding that the ROC’s continued existence in Taiwan negates such claims.
Fourth, China is trying to fuel nationalism and distract the public from its internal and external problems, they said.
China’s economy is experiencing a significant slowdown, and it has a high debt-to-GDP ratio, they said, citing IMF statistics.
Moreover, purges of Chinese People’s Liberation Army commanders amid internal power struggles have led to low morale and concerns about the leadership, they said.
Beijing hopes to utilize the parade to boost its military’s confidence, they added.
The official said that the parade is ironic for three reasons: First, China says it is promoting peace, but is showing off weapons.
Second, Beijing is treating Putin — the aggressor in Russia’s war on Ukraine — and other authoritarian leaders as distinguished guests, while excluding leaders of democratic countries, they said.
Third, the Axis powers of WWII — Germany, Italy and Japan — have become democratic nations, while Russia and China, which were part of the Allies, have moved toward autocracy, and now threaten regional and global peace, they said.
It is ironic that Xi, Putin, Kim and Pezeshkian are attending a ceremony which says it is commemorating a war against aggression and fascism, they added.
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