Li Ying, Cao Ziyang, and Yang Kai: The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Opened the Main Eastern Battlefield of the World Anti-Fascist War
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that the great Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression opened up the major Eastern theater of the World Anti-Fascist War; it made a contribution that will shine in the annals of history toward saving the nation from peril, achieving national independence and people's liberation, and striving for the great cause of world peace. The Chinese People's War of Resistance started the earliest and lasted the longest. For a long period, the Chinese theater pinned down and fought the main forces of Japanese militarism, playing a decisive role in the total destruction of the Japanese aggressors.
The Chinese People's War of Resistance started the earliest and lasted the longest; the Chinese people made immense sacrifices
Every exploration of a historical issue must trace its origins and look back at the past. The focus of the concept of the "World Anti-Fascist War" lies in the nature of the war being "anti-fascist." Any war that opposes fascist aggression falls within this scope. Measured by this standard, any battle, regardless of scale, should belong to the category of the World Anti-Fascist War as long as it possesses an anti-fascist character. In this sense, it is not difficult to see that it was China that fired the first shot of the World Anti-Fascist War. In 1931, Japan deliberately manufactured the September 18th Incident [1] and launched an armed invasion of Northeast China, tearing apart the fragile illusion of peace under the Versailles system. This created a source of war in the East, posing a serious threat to the peace and stability of the Far East and the entire world. To resist the Japanese aggressors, the Communist Party of China (CPC), acting as the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation, stepped forward and took the lead in raising the banner of armed resistance against Japan. In an international environment where fascism was rampant and appeasement was prevalent, and while the world's major powers remained outside the anti-fascist struggle for a long time, the Chinese people—vowing never to be "slaves of a fallen nation" [2]—rose up in resistance in the region of the "White Mountains and Black Waters" [3] under the leadership of the CPC. This marked the starting point of the Chinese People's War of Resistance and raised the curtain on the World Anti-Fascist War, fully exposing the reactionary nature of fascist aggression, expansion, and destruction of peace.
To realize its ambition of annexing all of China, subsequently conquering Asia, and seeking global hegemony, Japan—after thorough preparation and planning—provoked the Lugou Bridge Incident [4] in 1937 and launched a full-scale war of invasion against China, placing the Chinese nation in grave danger of national subjugation and racial extinction. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "After the July 7th Incident, resisting aggression and saving the nation from extinction became the common will and action of all Chinese political parties, ethnic groups, classes, strata, organizations, as well as overseas Chinese. China thus entered the stage of a nationwide war of resistance and opened up the major Eastern theater of the World Anti-Fascist War." The full-scale outbreak of the Chinese People's War of Resistance was a manifestation of the contradiction between fascism and anti-fascism rising to become the primary contradiction in the world. It exerted an influence that affected the overall global situation and even changed the global landscape. The major Eastern theater opened by the Chinese people was the world’s first large-scale anti-fascist battlefield. Franklin D. Roosevelt stated: "The Chinese people were the first to stand up and fight the aggressors in this war." Stalin remarked: "The Chinese people have made a huge contribution to the anti-fascist war; the Chinese theater is one of the important theaters for defeating Japanese fascism." In January 1942, twenty-six countries fighting the German, Italian, and Japanese Axis powers—led by China, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union (commonly known as the Allies)—signed the Declaration by United Nations in Washington, marking the formal formation of the international anti-fascist alliance. From that point on, the Chinese theater of resistance was integrated with the global anti-fascist theater.
From the September 18th Incident to the formal formation of the international anti-fascist united front, the anti-fascist war was a continuous process. In April 1945, at the Seventh National Congress of the Party, Comrade Mao Zedong clearly pointed out: "The Chinese people’s War of Resistance Against Japan developed along a tortuous path. This war began as early as 1931." Counting from the September 18th Incident in 1931 until the UK and France declared war on Germany in 1939 (when the war broke out fully in Europe), China had already conducted a war of resistance independently for eight years. By the time the Soviet-German War and the Pacific War broke out in 1941, China's independent resistance had already lasted for ten years.
Compared to other Allied nations, China's anti-fascist war not only started the earliest but also lasted the longest, spanning 14 years. Other Allied nations in WWII formally began their anti-fascist wars later than China and for shorter durations. In September 1939, Poland was invaded by Germany; in June 1940, the German army launched a general offensive against France, and Italy also declared war on France; in July 1940, Hitler ordered the execution of "Operation Sea Lion" to invade Britain; in June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union; in December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Compared to China, the longest duration other Allies were involved in the war was less than six years, with the United States involved for less than four.
Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out that the September 18th Incident "started the stage of transforming China into a Japanese colony." The prolonged war and the brutality of the Japanese army caused the Chinese people to make immense sacrifices. According to incomplete statistics, more than 35 million Chinese military personnel and civilians were killed or wounded under the butcher's knives of the Japanese invading army; the Nanjing Massacre alone resulted in more than 300,000 deaths. Converted at 1937 values, the direct economic losses caused by the Japanese aggressors to China amounted to over US$100 billion, with indirect economic losses exceeding US$500 billion. "The crimes committed by the Japanese aggressors against the Chinese people constitute the most barbaric and cruel page in history."
The unconquerable strength, unyielding will, and brilliant military achievements demonstrated by the Chinese military and people swept away the century-long image of China as weak and stagnant. China's protracted war of resistance consumed Japan's primary military and national strength, frustrating its strategy of a "long-term war." The Japanese historian Kiyoshi Inoue noted: "In the Second World War, Japan was not only defeated by the United States but was defeated even more wretchedly by China. More accurately, it was defeated by the Chinese people."
The Chinese theater pinned down and fought the main forces of Japanese militarism for a long period, effectively coordinating with and supporting the anti-fascist war in other theaters
The Second World War was a war of aggression launched by the German, Italian, and Japanese fascist blocs to dominate the world. In the overall expansionist vision of Japanese militarism, launching a war of invasion against China was an indispensable prerequisite and key. Japan's ambitions for external aggression emerged as early as the Meiji Restoration. In 1927, Japanese Prime Minister Giichi Tanaka submitted a memorial to the Emperor stating: "To conquer China, we must first conquer Manchuria and Mongolia; to conquer the world, we must first conquer China" [5]. Looking at historical developments, Japanese militarism implemented its predetermined plan step by step exactly in this manner. As Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out, in order to "attack the South Seas islands to the south and Siberia to the north, Japan adopted a policy of a 'breakthrough in the center'—first hitting China."
The World Anti-Fascist War was a war of unprecedented scale in human history, with flames of war spreading across Asia, Europe, Africa, and Oceania, involving more than 80 countries and regions and approximately 2 billion people. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that the Chinese People's War of Resistance strategically supported and assisted Allied operations, coordinated with strategic actions in the European and Pacific theaters, and constrained and disrupted the attempts at strategic coordination between Japanese, German, and Italian fascists.
From the perspective of the Japanese fascists' plan to conquer the world, whether it was the "Northward Advance" or "Southward Advance," the occupation of China was the prerequisite. The Chinese theater pinned down and fought the vast majority of Japan's main army forces and some of its naval and air forces, firmly binding the Japanese military's hands and feet. China's protracted resistance made it difficult for Japan to divert troops elsewhere for a long time. After the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, Germany hoped Japan would launch a war against the Soviet Union to coordinate a pincer attack from the east and west. However, Sugiyama Hajime, Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, said: "The majority of Japan's military strength is currently employed in China," and a "Northward Advance" to start a war with the Soviet Union was "practically impossible." On August 9, 1941, the Army Department of the Imperial General Headquarters decided: "Regardless of how the German-Soviet war evolves, we discard the attempt to resolve the northern problem within the 16th year of Showa (1941)." Upon learning this intelligence, the Soviet Union boldly transferred a large number of troops from the Far East to reinforce the Western Front against Germany. Due to the tenacious resistance of the Chinese people, Japan not only lacked more troops for a "Northward Advance" against the Soviet Union but also repeatedly postponed its "Southward Advance" plan. This strategically supported and coordinated with the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War and bought time for the U.S., Britain, and other countries to prepare for war against Japan. After the successful surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese army successfully attacked the British fleet in the Indian Ocean, showing a momentum to seize command of the Indian Ocean and join forces with Germany in the Middle East. Churchill cabled Roosevelt: "I must again raise the serious situation in the Indian Ocean... this will lead to the collapse of our entire Middle East position... the influence the Japanese can exert is more than we can endure." However, China's war of resistance firmly pinned down the main force of the Japanese army, forcing it to negate the navy's arrogant plans and thereby shattering the strategic plot for Japan and Germany to meet in the Middle East.
Even during the extremely difficult "stalemate stage" [6] when China faced the fall of vast territories, China still resolutely dispatched elite troops to form an Expeditionary Force to Burma based on the strategic needs of the international anti-fascist alliance, fighting the Japanese alongside Allied forces. As an important strategic base for the Allies' war against Japan in the Asia-Pacific region, China provided airports, harbors, large amounts of strategic materials, and military intelligence, supporting the Allied anti-fascist struggle in terms of manpower, material, and financial resources. China's protracted war not only won precious strategic preparation time for anti-fascist nations like the Soviet Union, U.S., and Britain but also played a vital role in ensuring the implementation of the Allies' "Europe First" grand strategy. Regarding this, Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out in 1939: "The great Chinese war of resistance is not just an affair for China or the East, but for the whole world... our enemy is a global enemy, and China's war of resistance is a global war of resistance." In December 1940, Roosevelt highly praised China's resistance in a "Fireside Chat": "In Asia, another great defensive war is being waged by the Chinese people, which is holding back the Japanese... preventing the war-makers of Europe and Asia from gaining control of the oceans leading to this hemisphere is the most vital issue for us." The U.S. repeatedly emphasized that China's resistance acted as the first line of American national defense, and that China naturally stood at the center of Pacific defense; if Japan were to win, it would destroy the entire position of the West across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
During the period of Japan's strategic offensive and China's strategic defense, both sides deployed a total of over 4 million troops across a frontline of 1,800 kilometers. The flames of war spread across more than 10 provinces and regions in China, covering a theater area of approximately 1.6 million square kilometers, involving a population of up to 400 million directly or indirectly. The Chinese theater caused Japanese fascism to fall into the quagmire of a long-term war from which it could not extricate itself. The Chinese People's War of Resistance not only achieved the salvation of the nation and its people but also vigorously supported the resistance forces in the European and Pacific theaters, making a historical contribution to winning the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.
The Communist Party of China was the mainstay of the nationwide war of resistance; the Chinese theater played a decisive role in the total destruction of the Japanese aggressors
Throughout the 14-year war of resistance, the Chinese people consistently held high the great banner of the anti-fascist struggle. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: The great victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression re-established China's status as a major power in the world; the Chinese people won the respect of the peace-loving people of the world, and the Chinese nation won a high national reputation! During the World Anti-Fascist War, not all countries were able to persist in resistance to the end and win victory—especially some countries that were more powerful than China at the time were defeated or surrendered. In contrast, although China was a weak semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, because of the "mainstay" (中流砥柱) role played by the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people stood tall in the East, holding high the banner of anti-fascist war despite immense hardships. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "Our war is being conducted in a difficult environment. The lack of national consciousness, national self-esteem, and self-confidence among the broad masses, the lack of organization among most people, the weakness of military power, economic backwardness, lack of political democracy, the existence of corruption and pessimism, and the lack of unity and consolidation within the united front have all created this difficult environment. Therefore, Communists must consciously shoulder the heavy responsibility of uniting the people of the whole country to overcome various negative phenomena." At the critical moment of national peril, the CPC's banner of resistance was always the clearest, its attitude the most resolute, and its actions the most active.
After the September 18th Incident, on September 20, 1931, the CPC Central Committee issued the "Declaration of the Communist Party of China on the Incident of Japanese Imperialism's Violent Occupation of the Three Northeastern Provinces." In April 1932, the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic [7] issued the "Declaration of War against Japan." Placing the overarching interest of the nation first, the Communist Party of China made unremitting efforts to establish the Anti-Japanese National United Front. The Party dispatched individuals such as Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi, Zhao Yiman, Zhou Baozhong, and Feng Zhongyun to various parts of the Northeast to establish Party organizations and anti-Japanese armed forces, mobilizing the masses to launch a struggle against the Japanese invaders. The blows dealt to the Japanese invading army by the patriotic military and civilians in the Northeast, along with the resistance in the Songhu [8] area, the Great Wall, Chahar, and Suiyuan [9] initiated by patriotic forces in other regions before the July 7th Incident, effectively consumed the strategic resources of Japanese fascism and struck a blow against its ambitions for invading China and its aggressive arrogance. Comrade Zhu De pointed out that the heroic resistance of the Northeast people forced the "Japanese bandits, in order to maintain 'public security' in the Northeast," to dispatch a "vast army, expending many vital forces and hundreds of millions in monthly military expenditures."
Following the July 7th Incident, the Beiping-Tianjin area was in peril, North China was in peril, and the Chinese nation was in peril; the Chinese nation had reached its most dangerous moment. In the face of the aggressors, the Chinese Communists remained bravely at the forefront of the War of Resistance, sustaining the hope for the Chinese nation's salvation and becoming the mainstay [10] of the national resistance. Under the advocacy and promotion of the CPC, the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and the Anti-Japanese National United Front were formally established in September 1937. The Chinese nation united as never before under the great banner of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. Patriotic individuals from all ethnic groups, classes, parties, and social organizations, as well as compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese, united with one heart and threw themselves without hesitation into this great struggle concerning the survival of the nation. The frontal battlefield [11] commanded by the Kuomintang and the behind-the-enemy-lines battlefield [12] opened by the people's anti-Japanese armed forces led by the Communist Party were both relatively independent and mutually coordinated, forming a posture of joint confrontation against the enemy.
The anti-Japanese armed forces led by the CPC adopted a path of advancing in waves—moving from mountainous areas to the plains—creating anti-Japanese democratic base areas behind enemy lines and successively opening the North China, Central China, and South China battlefields. The formation of the behind-the-enemy-lines battlefield and the extensive conduct of people's war [13] not only effectively coordinated with the frontal battlefield's operations against Japan, frustrating the Japanese army's plot for a "quick war and quick decision" to destroy China, but also constituted a fatal threat to the Japanese army's rear. The opening of the behind-the-enemy-lines battlefield was one of the important reasons why the Japanese invading army halted its strategic offensive against China. Upon entering the stage of strategic stalemate, the behind-the-enemy-lines battlefield gradually rose to become the main battlefield of China's resistance, serving as the key factor in the shift of power where the enemy weakened and our side grew. By the stage of strategic counter-offensive, the behind-the-enemy-lines battlefield became the frontline position and strategic base for the comprehensive counter-attack and the pursuit of final victory.
Through 14 years of arduous and bloody struggle, the Chinese military and civilians annihilated more than 1.5 million Japanese troops in total. The great victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression also signaled the complete victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.
The Chinese battlefield possessed characteristics profoundly different from the Western theater. If one does not understand these characteristics and tries to measure or evaluate the Chinese battlefield solely by the metrics of the Western theater, they will inevitably fall into error. Comrade Mao Zedong penetratingly pointed out: "The Sino-Japanese War is not just any other war; it is a life-and-death war fought in the 1930s between a semi-colonial and semi-feudal China and imperialist Japan. Herein lies the basis of the entire problem." This specific nature of the Sino-Japanese War determined the characteristics of the Chinese battlefield: it was a battlefield of massive scale and protracted duration. Because the Sino-Japanese War was a war between a weak country and a strong country, and between a large country and a small country, victory was not decided by major set-piece battles as in the Western theater; rather, it was a war of massive attrition of human and material resources. It would undoubtedly be superficial to diminish the role of the Chinese battlefield on the grounds that it lacked the kind of major battles seen in the West. As Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out in On Protracted War, Japan's weaknesses lay in the fact that it was "small in land, scarce in resources, low in population, and short on soldiers" and that it was a "small country, regressive, and lacked support." Therefore, Japan's national strength could not withstand long-term war attrition. Based on this, Comrade Mao Zedong noted: "If the guerrillas kill one more enemy soldier, consume one more enemy bullet, or pin down one more enemy soldier... it adds a measure of strength to the overall resistance. Its obvious psychological negative impact on the enemy army and nation, and its positive psychological influence on our entire army and people, are also self-evident." Looking at the Chinese battlefield as a whole, the number of Japanese deserters showed a trend of increasing year by year. Japanese military historians also believe that, at the very least by 1943, the Japanese invading army encountered unsolvable problems such as the declining quality of personnel and difficulties in the supply of weaponry and equipment. Through the joint efforts of the international anti-fascist alliance, and especially through the Chinese people's contest against Japan lasting over a decade, Japanese fascism was brought to the brink of collapse by 1945. On June 8, 1945, a Japanese Imperial Conference discussing the "current state of national strength" concluded: "The replenishment of material national strength is in a state of extreme difficulty."
Following Japan's defeat, 1.28 million Japanese troops surrendered to China, accounting for more than half of the total Japanese forces surrendering overseas. In 1945, at the Party's Seventh National Congress, Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "The broad ranks of officers and soldiers of the Chinese army fought bloodily at the front; Chinese workers, peasants, intellectuals, and industrialists worked hard in the rear; overseas Chinese contributed funds to assist the war; and all anti-Japanese political parties, except for those anti-people elements, contributed their share to the war." The Chinese people, through their own tenacious struggle and immense sacrifice, made a decisive contribution to defeating the Japanese aggressors.
The final victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the complete downfall of the Japanese aggressors inspired the confidence and courage of colonial and semi-colonial countries suffering from aggression and oppression to strive for national independence and people's liberation. It exerted a profound influence on the great cause of people across the world to secure victory in the anti-fascist war and safeguard world peace, significantly raising China's international status and influence. This allowed the Chinese people to win the respect of peace-loving people worldwide, and the Chinese nation to earn a high national reputation.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that the great victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression will be forever etched in the annals of the Chinese nation and the annals of the cause of human justice! Through bloody struggle and practical contributions, China's international status rose as never before, and it made significant contributions to the post-war international order centered on the United Nations and based on international law. This order has gained universal recognition from countries worldwide and has played an important role in maintaining post-war peace and stability. Adhering to a correct historical perspective on World War II, resolutely safeguarding the post-war international order, and firmly defending international fairness and justice are the common aspirations of peace-loving and justice-loving people throughout the world. Any attempts to distort the historical truth of World War II, deny the fruits of the victory of World War II, or smear China's historical achievements will never succeed! The people of all countries will surely choose to stand on the right side of history and the side of fairness and justice, resolutely opposing all forms of hegemonism and power politics, and remain steadfast as guardians of historical memory, partners in development and rejuvenation, and defenders of international fairness and justice, working together to create a better future for humanity.
(Authors' Unit: Second Research Department of the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee) Source: China Discipline Inspection and Supervision Institute (Zhongguo Jijian Jiancha Bao), August 28, 2025, Page 8 Web Editor: Tongxin