Fight Over “Correct” Historical Memory Permeates China’s War Anniversary Commemorations

When Beijing’s leaders—such as President Xi Jinping—talk of “safeguarding” the “victory” of World War II, then, they’re talking about defending the idea of the Communist state as the only legitimate inheritor of “China’s victory”—as well as the idea that China, as a victor of the war, enjoys a naturally superior status to Tokyo, the instigator and loser. Last week, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung called on democratic nations to “boycott and condemn China’s Sept. 3 military parade,” warning that “China may use the […] parade as an occasion to sow division among democracies, and this warrants close attention.” An editorial in today’s Taipei Times also called for a boycott of the parade, citing the CCP’s “historical revisionism” and “distorted narrative” about the war: “By boycotting the parade, the international community can send a clear message: History is not a tool to be rewritten for political gain, and authoritarian regimes cannot whitewash their past to justify their aggressive policies.” Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council has reportedly cautioned Taiwanese entertainers with followings in China against “echoing mainland Chinese propaganda.” The council’s head Chiu Chui-cheng warned, “Taiwanese entertainers developing careers in mainland China must abide by cross-strait regulations, be mindful of public perception, and refrain from supporting the Communist Party’s propaganda campaigns – particularly the September 3 military parade.” As in previous years, Taiwanese government employees and senior retired officers are forbidden from attending the military parade. In a blog post for the SOAS China Institute this month titled “China’s War Memory and the Politics of Nationalism,” Rahul Pandey summarized the ways in which the CCP’s emphasis on anti-Japanese narratives in its commemoration of the war serve to not only to remind people of history but also to bolster the Party’s claims to legitimacy in the present:

Author: Arthur Kaufman

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