Analysts say Xi’s address honors sacrifices, outlines path for humanity’s shared future

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s address on Sept 3 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War paid a tribute to the major contributions and sacrifices made by the Chinese people to achieve world peace and outlined the path for humanity’s peaceful shared future, analysts say.

Xi’s speech, delivered at the Tian’anmen Square in Beijing during the grand military parade, also emphasized China’s commitment to “a peaceful rise and development” in a multipolar world.

Keith Bennett, London-based senior analyst of international affairs, and co-editor of online platform Friends of Socialist China, said in stark contrast to those who grotesquely speak of other countries being “on the menu”, President Xi again pledged his country to peaceful development.

Only when nations across the world treat each other as equals and mutually support one another, Xi pointed out, can the root cause of war be eliminated, and can we prevent historical tragedies from recurring, by building a community of shared future for humanity.

The culmination featured the release of 80,000 doves and 80,000 multicolored balloons, reminding us that everything China does is for the sake of peace, Bennett said.

Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior analyst at business consultancy Solaris Strategies Singapore, said the Chinese president’s address underscored the importance of learning from history to avert any pitfalls, and projected collective confidence in shaping international affairs through civilizational diplomacy.

Xi once again reminded the world how important it is to choose peace over war, dialogue over confrontation, and win-win outcomes over zero-sum games.

Anna Rosario Malindog-Uy, vice-president of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute, said Xi’s speech honored the sacrifices of millions, and reminded the world that “peace was won at great cost” and should be safeguarded in earnest.

“Western critics often conflate commemoration with intimidation, projecting their own anxieties onto China’s rise and rising capabilities,” she said.

The Western world may express consternation over the presence of Russian leader and some others, Bennett said, but it was the peoples of China and the Soviet Union who made the greatest national sacrifice to rid the world of fascist barbarism and save human civilization.

Tomoyoshi Kimura, director of the Northeast Asia Dynamics Study Group in Japan, said that he believes Xi’s words that “the tragedies of history must never be repeated” serve as a strong warning.

The historical experience of the Chinese people has shown to the world that “unjust wars of aggression and colonial domination will inevitably end in failure in the face of people’s resistance”, Kimura said.

Xi’s address “conveys a powerful call to join hands in advancing world peace, and I could truly feel that strength”, he said.

It is clear that if forces within Japanese society attempt to “justify” or “distort” the history of Japan’s past aggression, China will never turn a blind eye, he added.

Peter Hack, a researcher at the Chinese Heritage Association of Australia, and a former official in the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, echoed the Chinese leader’s remark about China’s crucial role as a strategic Allied force in World War II.

“It was important for Australia, as well as other countries around the Pacific and the United States, that China did not surrender to Japan” and instead tied down many Japanese troops, he said after watching the online broadcast of the commemoration in Sydney.

Bennett in Britain noted that China had promised to show the world the advances in its self-defensive capabilities.

With an array of new equipment displayed for the first time, including nuclear missiles with global reach, a land, sea and air nuclear triad, all-weather hypersonic missiles, reconnaissance and strike drones, unmanned ship-based helicopters, advanced electronic counter-measure equipment, cyberspace warfare equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles, hypersonic anti-ship missiles, long range artillery and new generation tanks, among others, China certainly did not disappoint on that front, he said.

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