Harsh words for Japanese invaders
Print Edition
The Japanese who invaded China before and during World War II behaved with barbarity and tried to slaughter the people into surrender, President Xi Jinping said yesterday as the country geared up for a military parade to mark the end of the war.
Using unusually strong language at a medal ceremony for veterans and their descendants, Xi said the invaders were “fiendish.”
“The Japanese militarist invaders were extremely bloody and cruel, who treated the Chinese people with unprecedented brutality, and tried to use massacres and death to get the Chinese people to yield,” Xi said.
“In the face of the butchers’ knives of the invaders, the Chinese people used their flesh and blood to build a new Great Wall,” he added.
Xi said victory was a “miracle” given the difficulties China faced, but the lesson had never been forgotten.
“In recent times, in the face of incursions again and again by strong foes, the Chinese people have never yielded, continuing to join forces, taking up positions as those in front fall, tenaciously struggling, swearing to fight to the end,” he said.
Xi was presenting medals to 30 Chinese and foreign veterans and civilians who fought for China during the war.
Xi, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, said that the nation’s heroes, including those who fought in World War II, are the “backbone” of the nation and their deeds and spirit the country’s great driving force.
“Any nation with hope cannot be without heroes and any country with promising prospects cannot be without pioneers,” he said.
Xi said the purpose of the medal ceremony was to pay tribute to war heroes and show that the Chinese people cherish peace and remember history.
Xi attributed their heroic deeds to the “common willing of Chinese people” who united at hard times to fight against Japanese aggression.
Xi said the patriotic spirit that had taken shape through China’s resistance to aggression is the driving force for China’s rejuvenation.
Those who struggled for China’s national independence and development are all national heroes, he said. “Chinese people will never forget their enduring accomplishments.”
Xi also praised those from countries including the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, Korea, Canada and India who fought side by side and forged profound friendships.
Among those honored with medals were Anna Chan Chennault, wife of American pilot Claire Lee Chennault, Joseph W. Stilwell, grandson of Joseph Stilwell, commander of China, Burma, India Theater, and MW Bethune, grandson of Norman Bethune, a famous Canadian army surgeon in China.
The front of the medal is embossed with WWII soldiers, a pagoda from a revolutionary base in Yan’an, the Yellow River, and an olive branch.
It symbolizes the Communist Party of China’s decisive role during the war, China’s drive for rejuvenation and its aspirations for world peace.
China has decided to grant such medals to roughly 210,000 veterans or relatives.
Yesterday’s ceremony was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
The government has said that today’s military parade in the capital is not aimed at today’s Japan, but to remember the past and cherish the present peace.
In the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in China’s then capital.
Today’s parade, featuring some 12,000 troops, is the highlight of events marking 70 years since the war ended.
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