Qu Qingshan: Key Historical Insights from the Victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression
The important speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the meeting commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, with its profound historical perspective, grand international vision, and forward-looking strategic thinking, deeply expounded upon the great practical and far-reaching historical significance of the victory in this war. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "History carries the past and also enlightens the future. On the new journey of the New Era, the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country must, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), adhere to Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, and the Scientific Outlook on Development; fully implement the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics; inherit and carry forward the great spirit of the War of Resistance; forge ahead with enterprise and fortitude; and strive in unity to comprehensively advance the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization!" The victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was a great victory in which the CPC played the role of the "mainstay" (zhòngliú dǐzhù). The CPC's role as the mainstay was the key to the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance. Deeply understanding and grasping this major issue, drawing wisdom and strength from the history of the Chinese People's War of Resistance, and upholding the Party’s leadership on the new journey of the New Era are of extremely significant practical and historical importance for achieving the Second Centenary Goal and the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
I. The CPC was the earliest propagandist, mobilizer, organizer, and combatant in the Chinese people's resistance against Japanese militarist aggression
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "After the September 18th Incident [1], the Chinese people rose up in resistance amid the 'White Mountains and Black Waters' [2], marking the starting point of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and raising the curtain on the World Anti-Fascist War." Before the September 18th Incident, in the face of provocations by the Japanese army, Chiang Kai-shek telegraphed the Northeast Army: Regardless of how the Japanese army may provoke us in the Northeast hereafter, our side should not resist and must strive to avoid conflict. After the incident occurred, the Kuomintang (KMT) government actually telegraphed the Northeast Army: This move by the Japanese army is merely of a common provocative nature; to avoid the expansion of the incident, we must absolutely adopt a policy of non-resistance. Consequently, under the sudden attack of the Japanese army, except for a few units, the Northeast Army retreated without a fight, and large tracts of national territory were quickly lost. At this most critical moment, the CPC resolutely assumed the heavy responsibility of being the vanguard of the national resistance against Japan, moving to the very forefront of the movement for national salvation without looking back.
The Party was the first to raise the banner of armed resistance, sounding the first clarion call to save the nation from subjugation. In 1931, on the day after the September 18th Incident broke out, the CPC Manchukuo Provincial Committee issued the "Manifesto on the Armed Occupation of Manchuria by Japanese Imperialism." On the third day, the CPC Central Committee published the "Manifesto of the Communist Party of China on the Violent Occupation of the Three Northeastern Provinces by Japanese Imperialism." On the fifth day, it passed the "Resolution on the Incident of Japanese Imperialism Forcibly Occupying Manchuria." On the eighth day, September 25, the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, in the names of Zhu De, Mao Zedong, He Long, and Peng Dehuai, published the "Letter to the Soldier Brothers of the White Army [3] on the Forcible Occupation of Manchuria by Japanese Imperialism." Thereafter, the CPC Central Committee issued a series of manifestos. In April 1932, the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic [4] issued the "Manifesto Declaring War against Japan," which was nine years earlier than the KMT government's formal declaration of war against Japan after the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941. These manifestos and resolutions profoundly exposed the ambitions of Japanese militarism to turn China into its colony, severely condemned the KMT government's non-resistance policy as agonizing and treasonous, and proposed the national salvation program of resisting Japanese militarist aggression through a "national revolutionary war of the armed masses." They demonstrated the CPC's clear stance of resolutely striking back at the Japanese invaders and proclaimed the Chinese people's heroic spirit and firm determination to fight the Japanese invaders to the end and never surrender.
The Party took the lead in carrying out anti-Japanese actions and directly led the anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare in the Northeast. The CPC actively worked within the anti-Japanese volunteer armies, directly organized anti-Japanese armed forces, and created more than ten anti-Japanese guerrilla units. The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, established in 1936, fought thousands of battles against Japanese and puppet troops under extremely difficult and bitter conditions, crushing the enemy's numerous "punitive expeditions." This effectively struck at the colonial rule of the Japanese invaders in Northeast China and inspired the fighting spirit and patriotic passion of people across the country.
The Party resolutely supported the extensive development of the movement for national resistance and salvation. The CPC successively supported the War of Resistance in Shanghai [5], the War of Resistance at the Great Wall, supported and assisted the Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Allied Army, organized the Northward Anti-Japanese Vanguard, and ignited the December 9th Movement in 1935 that shook the nation. It encouraged and organized intellectual youth to go among the worker-peasant masses to propagate resistance, and supported the anti-Japanese patriotic activities of the "Seven Gentlemen" [6] of the National Salvation Association and the Suiyuan War of Resistance. These efforts played an active role and had a major impact on promoting the rise of the national movement for resistance and salvation and facilitating cooperation between the KMT and the CPC.
II. The CPC was the advocate, organizer, consolidator, and defender of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, and the strong core of political leadership for the entire nation's united resistance
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The Communist Party of China held high the banner of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, resolutely maintained, consolidated, and developed the united front, adhered to independence and the united resistance, and maintained the overall situation of the united struggle." Faced with the extremely disparate balance of power between China and Japan, what did the victory of the War of Resistance depend on? It depended on what Comrade Mao Zedong emphasized as the "great union of the Chinese people," which meant establishing the broadest possible Anti-Japanese National United Front. The CPC was the active advocate, active organizer, firm consolidator, and firm defender of the national united front. The CPC unswervingly promoted the resistance of the entire nation, becoming a glorious banner leading the national war of resistance toward victory.
Actively advocating and promoting the establishment of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. In January 1933, the CPC delegation to the Comintern issued the "January 26th Instruction Letter" in the name of the CPC Central Committee, proposing for the first time to create a national anti-imperialist united front in the Northeast as much as possible to gather all possible anti-Japanese forces. In August 1935, the CPC delegation to the Comintern drafted the "August 1st Manifesto," clearly putting forward the proposal to establish an Anti-Japanese National United Front. In December 1935, the CPC held the Wayaobu Meeting [7], formulating a new strategy for establishing the united front. After the Xi'an Incident [8] in December 1936, starting from the interests of the nation and setting aside past grievances, the CPC facilitated the peaceful resolution of the incident, which turned the tide of the domestic situation and created the necessary prerequisites for the arrival of the national war of resistance. After the July 7th Incident [9] broke out in 1937, at the moment of the greatest peril for the Chinese nation, through the efforts and promotion of the CPC and based on the Second KMT-CPC Cooperation, a national united front was formally established—including all ethnic groups, all democratic parties, all patriotic armies, patriotic personages from all walks of life, and overseas Chinese. The situation of a comprehensive national war of resistance began to take shape. The CPC played an extremely important role in actively advocating and promoting the establishment of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. Fujieda Takeo, a Japanese commentator on Chinese affairs, noted this point in a book published in 1938. He stated: "Under the promotion of the Communist Party of China, the Anti-Japanese National United Front has become the main force driving the national anti-Japanese movement." "As the actual underground guiding force, although the CPC was hidden in the shadows of society for a long time and did not receive enough attention from journalists and international public opinion, they are the indispensable backbone of this movement. After the Jiangxi Soviet was lost and they were forced to withdraw from Central and South China to the northwestern frontier, people once thought the CPC had lost its former advantages; but facts have proved that it remains the core of the anti-Japanese movement." This was just as Comrade Mao Zedong said: "If the Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region had not sincerely come forward to advocate ending the civil war and uniting against Japan, no one would have initiated the Anti-Japanese National United Front, no one would have led the peaceful resolution of the Xi'an Incident, and there would have been no way to implement the resistance."
Resolutely defending, consolidating, and developing the Anti-Japanese National United Front. After the war entered the stage of strategic stalemate, due to Japan's political inducements for surrender toward the KMT, the United Kingdom and the United States' policy of appeasement toward Japan, and the KMT's hostility and fear toward the development and growth of the people's armed forces led by the CPC, the situation of united resistance suffered several reversals. The CPC clearly put forward political propositions: "persist in resistance, oppose surrender; persist in unity, oppose division; persist in progress, oppose regression." It proposed the general strategic policy of "developing the progressive forces, winning over the middle forces, and isolating the die-hard forces," and adhered to the policy of "seeking unity through struggle" and the principles of struggle being "on just grounds, to our advantage, and with restraint." It repelled three anti-communist upsurges launched by the KMT die-hards. Especially in the struggle following the Southern Anhui Incident [10], the CPC prioritized the overall situation of the war; while engaging in self-defense and counter-attacks, it maintained the situation of united resistance, ensuring that KMT-CPC cooperation never broke down. This effectively defended the Anti-Japanese National United Front and provided a strong political guarantee for the final victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance.
III. The CPC implemented the line of total resistance and proposed the general strategic policy of protracted war, acting as the proponent, instructor, leader, and practitioner of correct strategies and tactics
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was a great victory for the entire nation's courageous resistance with one heart and mind. The Communist Party of China persisted in mobilizing and relying on the people, promoting the formation of a historical torrent of national resistance." Faced with the barbaric aggression of Japanese militarism, how should China fight? What kind of process would the resistance undergo? Could China ultimately win? These were questions that the people were generally concerned about but could not see clearly when the total resistance began. Without scientific answers to these questions, it would be impossible to correctly guide the war. The CPC and Comrade Mao Zedong accurately grasped the laws of the War of Resistance, proposed and persisted in implementing the line of total resistance and the general strategic policy of protracted war, providing correct guidance and scientific direction for winning the war.
Implementing the line of total resistance. From the very beginning of the total war of resistance, the CPC called for a general mobilization of the whole nation, implementing a line of total resistance where all people participate in and support the war. The CPC deeply realized that "the deepest source of the immense power of war lies in the masses." As long as the Chinese masses were organized, "the Japanese aggressor will be placed before hundreds of millions of our people who have stood up; it will be like a wild bull crashing into a ring of fire—we need only raise a shout and the bull will be startled, and it will inevitably be burned to death." To organize the dispersed masses, the CPC led the establishment of national salvation organizations such as the Chinese National Liberation Vanguard and the Women's National Salvation Association. Simultaneously, according to the nature of their work, it organized medical teams, stretcher teams, propaganda teams, reconnaissance teams, and battlefield service corps, truly achieving universal mobilization, a nation in arms, and total participation. In 1944, Harrison Forman, a reporter for the American newspaper The New York Times, wrote a book titled Report from Red China after conducting six months of interviews in Yan'an and the Shanxi-Suiyuan Anti-Japanese Base Area. He wrote: "No one who has seen the Eighth Route Army could doubt them; the reason they can persist in fighting with captured weapons or crude weapons is precisely because they stand with the people."
Implementing the general strategic policy of protracted war. In December 1935, at a meeting of Party activists, Comrade Mao Zedong put forward the view that "to defeat the enemy, we must prepare for a protracted war." In July 1936, in a conversation with the American journalist Edgar Snow, he explicitly proposed the policy of achieving victory through protracted war. After the outbreak of the total war of resistance, to refute the erroneous views of "national subjugation" and "rapid victory" that were clamorous in society, Comrade Mao Zedong wrote On Protracted War in May 1938. He deeply analyzed the domestic and international situations, systematically summarized historical experience, and clearly pointed out that protracted war is the general strategic policy for the War of Resistance and that the final victory would belong to China. Comrade Mao Zedong scientifically predicted that the protracted war would pass through three stages: strategic defense, strategic stalemate, and strategic counter-offensive, and argued that the stage of strategic stalemate would be the "pivot" for the transition of the protracted resistance toward final victory. This scientific prediction was completely confirmed during the war. The general strategic policy of protracted war not only ideologically armed the CPC and the broad masses of soldiers and civilians under its leadership but also caused a great stir among the KMT high command and had a major impact nationwide. Some KMT senior officials read On Protracted War carefully, admired it greatly, and gave it high praise, believing its analysis to be profound, with great foresight and persuasiveness, and the supreme strategic policy for overcoming the enemy and achieving victory.
Implementing the strategic tactics of guerrilla warfare. In order to fulfill the general guiding principles of the mass line of resistance and the strategy of protracted war, Comrade Mao Zedong for the first time elevated guerrilla warfare to a strategic status. Unlike the individual campaigns of conventional combat on the frontal battlefield, guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines emphasized the area over the point, continuity over stages, the whole over the part, and strategy over mere tactics. In essence, it was a unique strategic grand campaign—the longest-lasting and most continuous series of battles and engagements throughout the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Amidst the extremely arduous struggles against "mopping-up" operations [11] and "rural pacification" [12], the military and civilians behind enemy lines created many highly effective and flexible methods for annihilating the enemy, such as ambush warfare, sabotage warfare, landmine warfare, tunnel warfare, and "sparrow warfare" [13]. These tactics left the Japanese army like trapped beasts, drowning in the vast ocean of people's warfare. General Tsukamoto Masato, who served as a staff officer at the North China Area Army Headquarters of the Japanese Army, remarked: "The war waged by the CCP's Eighth Route Army against the Japanese Army was a special kind of war, never written about in any regulations nor previously experienced." Practice has proven that independent guerrilla warfare is the best operational form for the people's army to leverage its political and military advantages; it was the only correct politico-military principle for persisting in protracted resistance and achieving the final, total victory over the Japanese invaders.
IV. The extensive battlefields behind enemy lines opened by the CPC gradually ascended to become the main battlefield of the War of Resistance, and the people's anti-Japanese armed forces led by the CPC played a decisive role in securing victory.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "The battlefields behind enemy lines led and opened by the Chinese Communist Party and the frontal battlefield commanded by the Kuomintang collaborated with one another, forming a strategic situation of joint resistance against the Japanese invaders." The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression consisted of the frontal battlefield, with the Kuomintang (KMT) military as the main body, and the extensive battlefields behind enemy lines led by the CPC. During the war, these two battlefields collaborated and both played important roles; however, their status and function differed across various historical stages. Comrade Ye Jianying once noted: "From the very beginning, China's resistance was divided into the two great battlefields of the front and the rear. After the fall of Wuhan in October 1938, the battlefield behind enemy lines actually became China’s primary battlefield." Looking at the entire process of the War of Resistance, the frontal battlefield served as the main battlefield during a specific historical period, particularly during the stage of strategic defense. Once the war entered the stage of strategic stalemate, the battlefield behind enemy lines gradually became the main battlefield. In the process of opening battlefields behind enemy lines, launching guerrilla warfare, and establishing anti-Japanese democratic base areas, the people's armed forces led by the CPC grew from small to large and from weak to strong, playing a decisive role in seizing final victory.
An important force during the stage of strategic defense. In the early period of the war, the frontal battlefield with the KMT military as its mainstay organized a series of major engagements, including the battles of淞沪 (Songhu), 忻口 (Xinkou), 徐州 (Xuzhou), and 武汉 (Wuhan). The Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army respectively participated in defensive operations in various war zones. On September 25, 1937, the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army achieved the Great Victory at Pingxingguan, annihilating over 1,000 enemy troops. this shattered the myth of the Japanese army's "invincibility," greatly bolstered the confidence of the nation's military and civilians, and enhanced the prestige of the CPC and the Eighth Route Army. Simultaneously, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army pushed deep behind enemy lines, mobilized the masses, launched guerrilla warfare, and created anti-Japanese democratic base areas. This not only effectively coordinated with the frontal battlefield's operations against Japan but also posed a fatal threat to the Japanese rear, forcing the Japanese army to disperse its forces over the long term to fight on two fronts. Consequently, this played an important role in pushing the war from strategic defense into strategic stalemate and realizing a protracted resistance.
The primary force during the stage of strategic stalemate. After the war entered the stage of strategic stalemate, the anti-Japanese guerrilla warfare led by the CPC spread extensively. The battlefield behind enemy lines gradually became the main battlefield of the national resistance, and the people's anti-Japanese armed forces led by the CPC gradually became the mainstay of the resistance. From 1938 onwards, the proportions of Japanese invading forces engaged by the CPC-led armies were: nearly 59% in 1938, 62% in 1939, 58% in 1940, 75% in 1941, 63% in 1942, 58% in 1943, 64% in 1944, and 69% in 1945. Between August 1940 and January 1941, during a period of extreme difficulty for the resistance, the Eighth Route Army launched the Hundred Regiments Offensive, initiating large-scale attacks against Japanese and puppet forces [14] in North China. By early December 1940, a total of 1,824 battles of various sizes had been fought, with over 25,000 Japanese and puppet troops killed or wounded, and 281 Japanese and over 18,000 puppet troops captured. This greatly inspired the nation's confidence and fully demonstrated the formidable power of people's war led by the CPC.
The decisive force during the stage of strategic counter-offensive. After 1943, the battlefields behind enemy lines began to reverse the difficult situation and launch local counter-offensives, gradually realizing the transition from guerrilla warfare to mobile warfare. They recovered large amounts of lost territory and became the strategic base for the general counter-offensive, making a significant contribution to the final victory. By the end of the war, the people's army had grown to approximately 1.32 million personnel, and the militia to over 2.6 million. There were 19 anti-Japanese democratic base areas (i.e., Liberated Areas) led by the CPC, covering an area of nearly 1 million square kilometers with a population of nearly 100 million. These base areas not only sustained the resistance but also pointed toward a new direction for Chinese society, allowing people to feel that China was moving toward a bright future. This stood in sharp contrast to the political autocracy, corrupt officialdom, and economic depression in the KMT-controlled areas. As Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out in 1944: "That China has not perished is due to the existence of our Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army, and the New Fourth Army; it is primarily we who have sustained the situation of the War of Resistance. This is the reality of China's resistance today." In 1945, at the Seventh National Congress of the CPC, Comrade Mao Zedong emphasized with great pride: "Our Party has become the center of gravity for the Chinese people's resistance and national salvation, the center of gravity for the Chinese people's liberation, and the center of gravity for defeating the invaders and building a New China." History fully proves that the persistence and development of the battlefields behind enemy lines led by the CPC made a tremendous contribution to the victory and played a leading strategic role in changing the entire course of the war.
V. The Great War of Resistance Spirit, forged by the CPC in uniting and leading the people, provided powerful spiritual support for securing victory.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "In the magnificent course of the War of Resistance, the Chinese people gave birth to the Great War of Resistance Spirit. It demonstrated to the world a patriotic sentiment characterized by 'the rise and fall of the nation is the responsibility of every individual' [15], a national character of 'facing death with equanimity and preferring death to surrender,' a heroic spirit of 'defying brutality and fighting to the bitter end,' and an indomitable conviction in victory." The history of the Chinese people’s resistance is a history of struggle against Japanese invaders, and even more so, a history of forging the Great War of Resistance Spirit. Faced with the invasion of Japanese militarism, the Chinese Communists consistently stood at the foremost front. Through the practical actions of great patriotism and revolutionary heroism, they united and led the people in bloody battles, forging ahead courageously and creating the Great War of Resistance Spirit alongside the people, thereby coalescing a powerful spiritual force for victory.
Chinese Communists played a vanguard and exemplary role. In October 1938, in The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War, Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "Communists should show the greatest initiative in the national war... and this initiative should be demonstrated concretely in every field, namely, by playing a vanguard and exemplary role in all things." Throughout the fourteen years of the arduous struggle of resistance, no matter how difficult the conditions, how perilous the situation, or how cruel the war, Chinese Communists always fought bravely at the front lines, "vowing to live or die with the land." With their own flesh and blood, they built a Great Wall of steel to save the nation from peril, upheld the backbone of the Chinese nation, and maintained the spirit and dignity of the Chinese people. Heroic groups under Party leadership, such as the "Five Heroes of Mount Langya" [16] of the Eighth Route Army, the "Liu Lao Zhuang Company" [17] of the New Fourth Army, and the eight female soldiers of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, as well as numerous outstanding Communists represented by Yang Jingyu, Zhao Shangzhi, Zhao Yiman, Zuo Quan, and Peng Xuefeng, shed their last drop of blood for the victory. From the mountains and rivers of the Northeast to the Great Wall, and to the north and south of the Yangtze, Chinese Communists fought alongside the people, their blood flowing together, composing a heroic song that moved the heavens and the earth. Recalling the Battle of Huangtulíng where the Eighth Route Army routed the Japanese forces, the writer Wei Wei once wrote: "It was clearly visible on the battlefield that this was a contest between two spirits: one was the Japanese 'Bushido' spirit, and the other was the revolutionary will of the old Red Army—to see who was more stubborn, and who would overwhelm whom."
The CPC awakened national consciousness and coalesced the strength of the people. Under the influence and leadership of the Chinese Communists, the call to fight for the nation and the country became the strongest note resonating across China. The patriotic sentiments buried deep within the hearts of the Chinese people surged once more, and the awareness and conviction in national self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-improvement rose to unprecedented heights. The masses shared a common hatred for the enemy and faced the national crisis together, resulting in a vivid situation where "soldiers at the front sacrificed their lives and blood; all parties and factions were sincerely united; and people from all walks of life collaborated to save the nation." KMT generals such as Tong Linge, Zhao Dengyu, Zhang Zizhong, and Dai Anlan died for the country, and the KMT army's "Eight Hundred Heroes" [18] fought tenaciously to the last moment. The sons and daughters of China—"four hundred million people acting in unison, one heart and one mind in their military attire"—were firm in their determination that "with our hearts as one, we shall brave the enemy's fire and march on," and anchored in their conviction to defy brutality and persist until the end. They converged into a majestic force, writing a magnificent epic that startled the heavens and moved the spirits.
It has been 80 years since the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. The smoke of war from 80 years ago has long since dissipated, but history must not be forgotten. Today, as we commemorate this great victory, the most fundamental point is to bear in mind that the CPC’s role as the pillar of strength [19] was the key to victory. History teaches us that the leadership of the CPC is the root and lifeblood of the Party and the state, and the source of the interests and destiny of the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country. The New Era and the new journey constitute an expedition full of glory and dreams; on the road ahead, there will surely be major tests involving high winds, turbulent waves, and even terrifying storms. We must profoundly grasp the decisive significance of the "Two Establishments," strengthen the "Four Consciousnesses," firm up the "Four Confidences," and achieve the "Two Upholds." Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, we must work with one heart and one mind, forge ahead, and struggle in unity to comprehensively advance the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization.