The China Theater: WWII Oriental Beacon

by+Mao+Li

In the 1930s and 40s， Chinese people bravely fought Japanese invaders for 14 years and eventually emerged victorious despite 35 million casualties， making a major contribution to victory in the World Anti-fascist War. However， the West has hardly given the heroic efforts of Chinese people in World War II the praise they deserve. “It is unreasonable that Chinas contributions in World War II are neglected in Western history textbooks，” opined Marc Gilbert， former president of the World History Association and a Professor of History at Hawaii Pacific University， when interviewed in Beijing on July 17， 2015. He added that Western academia underestimated the importance of the Chinese Peoples War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in World War II， and that Western scholars needed to deepen their recognition of Chinas role in the War.

Selectively Forgotten

“China becomes our ally now，” says the narrator of Why We Fight， a film series commissioned by the U.S. military during World War II. “Perhaps conversely speaking is more accurate because China has fought our enemy – Japan – for seven years.”The sixth episode of the series， The Battle of China， portrays the bloody battles that China fought against Japanese invaders. However， the voice praising Chinas anti-Japanese war was silenced in Western countries during the Cold War. Once an ally， China was“selectively forgotten” by mainstream Western voices.

“Many Western publications about World War II either skip Chinas anti-Japanese war， gloss over it， or even print nonsense，” remarked Qi Shirong， an eminent Chinese historian of world history and a professor in the History Department of Capital Normal University （CNU）， criticizing some Western scholars ignorance of Chinas anti-Japanese war on July 17 at “History and Memory： An Academic Seminar on the History of World War II”， sponsored by CNU.

Western centrism is a major reason behind the ignorance about Chinas anti-Japanese war amongst Western historians， as shown by the research of Chinese historian Liang Zhanjun. By combing through 15 representative Western war encyclopedias， he found that most of them narrate World War II from the perspective of Europe and the United States and focus on battles in Europe and the Pacific War， while seldom mentioning anything that happened on the Chinese battlefield. Moreover， the key criterion for selected entries seems to be the involvement of Western countries. “The contributions of Chinas anti-Japanese war in World War II are basically neglected，” Liang asserts. “However， entries covering Chinas cooperation with other Allied countries， such as in the China-Burma-India Theater， are included in almost all of the 15 encyclopedias.”

Fair Appraisal

After the outbreak of the Pacific War， the United States spent six months healing its “wound” inflicted by Japans attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1942， the U.S. air force began bombing the Japanese homeland. Many U.S. pilots were forced to land in China because they were low on fuel. Despite knowing that assisting U.S. pilots could motivate cruel reprisals from Japanese troops， Chinese people still reached out a helping hand by escorting them across Japanese-controlled areas to safe rear regions.

When mentioning this slice of history， Gilbert exclaimed，“Though a tiny piece of history， it has a heavy influence.” He added that as the strategic base for the Allies in the Asia-Pacific region， China provided considerable support to other Allied powers. From the perspective of geopolitics， China played an important role in limiting Japans expansion in World War II.

“The role of Chinas anti-Japanese war in World War II deserves a prominent position in textbooks of world history.” Gilbert declared. He insisted that the beginning of World War II should be the 1931 Mukden Incident in northeastern China instead of the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. Moreover， the China Theater pinned down the majority of Japanese troops， leaving Japan few extra forces to invade other countries such as India. Gilbert stressed repeatedly that prior to the outbreak of the Pacific War， China had already resisted Japanese forces alone for several years， which was similar to Britains lone resistance to Nazi Germany in the early days of the European Theater. “It was huge pres- sure for one country to resist aggression alone，” he added.

Not only have Chinese scholars been seeking fair Western recognition of Chinas contributions in World War II， but increasing numbers of Western scholars have been doing so as well. For instance， Rana Mitter re-confirmed Chinas position as one of the worlds four anti-fascist great powers in his Forgotten Ally： Chinas World War II， 1937-1945.

According to findings by Liang Zhanjun， it has become the general tendency of Western war encyclopedias to include more and more entries about Chinas anti-Japanese war， with depictions becoming increasingly detailed and views increasingly objective.“This reflects that alongside the growth of Chinas overall strength after its reform and opening-up， Western scholars are paying

greater attention to the work of their Chinese counterparts， and understanding of the historical role of the China Theater is deepening，” remarks Liang.

How can Chinese scholars best make Chinas voice heard globally in the field of World War II research？ Zhang Chunnian， a research fellow at the Institute of World History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， suggests that China establish an editorial committee to collect， compile and publish historical documents about the Chinese Peoples War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and World War II globally.

Gilbert advised China promote the digitization and openness of its archives concerning the anti-Japanese war， as well as translation into foreign languages， to provide objective， detailed first-hand materials for foreign scholars to research the history of World War II and the Chinese Peoples War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.