Zhang Yuan: The Chinese Theater Opened the Main Eastern Theater of the World Anti-Fascist War
Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out that China's War of Resistance was a global one. The Great War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression by the Chinese people opened the main Eastern theater of the World Anti-Fascist War, played a decisive role in the total victory over Japanese Fascism, demonstrated the powerful strength of the Chinese nation in upholding the cause of human justice, and made historical contributions that shine in the annals of history toward the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.
Opening the First Anti-Fascist Battlefield
On September 18, 1931, Japan deliberately manufactured the September 18th Incident [1] and launched an armed invasion of Northeast China. The September 18th Incident exposed the wild ambitions [2] of Japanese Fascism and seriously threatened world peace and stability. To resist the Japanese aggressors, the Communist Party of China (CPC) took the lead in holding high the banner of armed resistance against Japan, sounding the horn of a national war of self-defense. The uprising of the Chinese people in the region of the "White Mountains and Black Waters" [3] became the starting point of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and simultaneously raised the curtain on the World Anti-Fascist War.
On July 7, 1937, the Japanese army brazenly provoked the Lugou Bridge Incident [4]. Local Chinese garrison troops rose in resistance, and the full-scale national War of Resistance broke out. To protect their homes and defend the country, the Chinese nation united as one to jointly resist Japanese Fascist aggression. During the period of Japan’s strategic offensive and China’s strategic defense, both sides deployed a total force of over 4 million men along a frontline extending more than 1,800 kilometers, with the flames of war spreading across more than ten provinces and regions in China. The Chinese military and civilians, filled with common hatred for the enemy [5], fought bloody battles and made the Japanese army pay a heavy price, opening the world's first large-scale anti-Fascist battlefield in the East.
Following the outbreak of the Pacific War, China's War of Resistance became integrated with the World Anti-Fascist War. Through arduous struggle and persistent resistance, the Chinese military and civilians annihilated and pinned down a vast number of Japanese troops, shattering the Japanese Fascist plot to destroy China and dominate the world. The Chinese theater continued to function as the main Eastern theater of the World Anti-Fascist War. As 1945 began, the dawn of victory for the anti-Fascist war was imminent. In the European theater, the anti-Fascist war approached final victory; in the Asian and Pacific theaters, Allied forces closed in on the Japanese home islands; in the Chinese theater, local counter-offensives began, and the Japanese army found itself at a dead end. From the September 18th Incident to Japan's unconditional surrender, the Chinese people persisted in the War of Resistance for 14 long years, creating a paradigm of the weak overcoming the strong in human history, and securing final victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
Pinning Down the Main Japanese Forces and Supporting Other Theaters
In the World Anti-Fascist War, the Chinese theater resisted and pinned down the vast majority of Japan's army forces and some of its naval and air forces. This constrained Japan’s "Northern Expansion" and "Southern Expansion" plans, effectively coordinating with and supporting the anti-Fascist struggle in other theaters.
The Chinese theater pinned down, killed, or wounded the largest number of Japan’s main army forces, annihilated the most Japanese soldiers, lasted the longest, and suffered the greatest costs. From 1937 until the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, the vast majority of Japanese forces were in the Chinese theater; the number of Japanese army divisions in China accounted for 80% of the total number of Japanese army divisions. Even after the outbreak of the Pacific War, more than a million Japanese troops remained deeply bogged down in the Chinese theater, unable to extricate themselves. According to statistics, to win the War of Resistance, the Chinese people paid a huge price of 35 million casualties (military and civilian), with direct economic losses reaching over 100 billion USD and indirect economic losses as high as 500 billion USD.
China's War of Resistance not only pinned down a large number of Japanese troops but also provided powerful support for the strategic needs of the Allies, making an irreplaceable contribution to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. To coordinate with Allied operations against Japan, China dispatched the Expeditionary Force [6] to Burma (Myanmar) in an emergency move to support British operations. Subsequently, the Chinese Army in India and the Chinese Expeditionary Force launched strategic counter-offensives against the Japanese in Northern Burma and Western Yunnan. When the forces joined at Mong-Yu in 1945, they had killed nearly 50,000 enemy troops, annihilated and depleted the effective strength of the Japanese army, effectively coordinated with Allied operations in other theaters, and enhanced China's international prestige. Meanwhile, as an important strategic base for Allied operations against Japan in the Asia-Pacific region, China provided the Allies not only with airbases but also with rare strategic materials such as tin and tungsten, supporting the anti-Fascist war in terms of manpower, material, and financial resources.
Establishing Great Power Status and Participating in the Reconstruction of the Post-War Order
The arduous resistance of the Chinese military and civilians and the significant military value demonstrated by the Chinese theater led to the improvement and elevation of China's status in the international community. To further win over China, the United States and Great Britain—especially the United States—strengthened their counter-attacks against Japan in the Pacific theater and actively promoted the resolution of the abolition of unequal treaties with China. In January 1943, China signed new treaties with the U.S. and the U.K. respectively (the Sino-American Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extraterritorial Rights in China and the Sino-British Treaty), announcing the cancellation of American and British extraterritoriality and related privileges in China. Under this influence, other countries enjoying privileges in China shadowed this move, renouncing their privileges and signing new treaties with China. China gradually became an equal member of the international community.
With the abolition of unequal treaties, China gradually established its status as a Great Power in the international community. After the Pacific War broke out, the Allies began to truly realize the important strategic position of the Chinese theater. In January 1942, twenty-six nations resisting Fascism, led by China, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union, signed the Declaration by United Nations in Washington, announcing they would cooperate to carry the anti-Fascist war through to the end; the World Anti-Fascist United Front was formally established. China officially appeared in international documents and on the international stage as one of the "Four Great Powers," confirming its status. In October 1945, the Charter of the United Nations officially came into effect. As a founding member of the United Nations and a permanent member of the Security Council, China's Great Power status was further confirmed. As one of the five permanent members, China actively participated in international affairs, supported the independence movements of neighboring countries, protected the interests of weak and small nations, and fought side-by-side with the Allies, playing a major role in the total defeat of Fascism and the establishment of the post-war order.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, reviewing and reflecting on this history—in which justice triumphed over evil, light over darkness, and progress over reaction—is both a defense of the fruits of victory and international fairness and justice, and an active promotion of the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
(The author is an Associate Research Fellow at the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression)
Source: Chinese Social Sciences Net - Guangming Daily, July 7, 2025 Online Editor: Tongxin