Beijing’s Parade of Falsehoods
Today tanks roll through Beijing and jets roar overhead as China marks its so-called “Victory Day” over Japan. The spectacle, wrapped in red flags and martial pride, tells us less about history than it does about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) enduring obsession with rewriting it. President Trump’s tweet rightfully called it out.
A Tale of Two Dates
Most Allied nations recognize September 2, 1945, the day of Japan’s formal surrender aboard the USS Missouri, as Victory over Japan Day. Beijing, following Moscow’s lead, shifted the commemoration to September 3. When the People’s Republic was founded in 1949, the regime downplayed the date—after all, it was the Nationalists (Kuomintang, KMT), not the CCP, who had fought the decisive battles. Only in the 1990s, and more forcefully, after Xi came to power in the 2010s, did the CCP elevate “anti-Japanese resistance” into a pillar of propaganda, culminating in parades like the one in 2015 and today’s repeat performance.
The Real Victors: Nationalists and Americans
The record is clear: it was the KMT who bled for China’s survival. Nationalist forces suffered over 3.2 million casualties in eight years of war, holding Japanese divisions in brutal campaigns at Shanghai, Wuhan, and Changsha. By contrast, the CCP pursued a cynical strategy summed up by Mao’s directive of “seven parts development, two parts coping, one part resistance.” Its priority was not defeating Japan but developing its own power base. From fewer than 50,000 troops in 1937, the Party swelled to over 1.2 million by 1945—achieved not by victory in battle but by building strength while the Nationalists and Americans bore the fight.
America’s Decisive Role
The war in Asia was ultimately decided not in Chinese fields but across the Pacific. The U.S. Navy severed Japan’s supply lines. Strategic bombing crippled its industry. And the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Tokyo into unconditional surrender. Without the U.S., the war could have dragged on indefinitely. Chinese resistance mattered, but it was American industrial might and military reach that ended the conflict.
From Falsehood to Shamelessness
Today’s parade erases these truths. The CCP present itself as the 中流砥柱 “mainstay” of the Anti-Japanese War, crowning itself with laurels earned by others. There’s a Chinese phrase— 始於作偽、終於無恥“starting with falsehood and ending with shamelessness”—captures the process perfectly. This is not remembrance; it is a pageant of fabrication, designed to reinforce Party legitimacy while airbrushing out the sacrifices of the Nationalists and the decisive role of the Americans.
Why It Matters
History shapes national identity. By inflating its role in World War II, the CCP is not just stealing credit; it is laying the foundation for future claims to moral authority at home and abroad. Today’s parade dazzled with military hardware and patriotic song. But behind the choreography lies a hollow truth: the Party that claims to have led China’s resistance to Japan was, in reality, the one that sat out the war, waiting to seize power after others had paid the price of victory.
The CCP can march tanks and fly jets, but it cannot march away from history. Victory over Japan was won by the Nationalists and sealed by America. Today’s parade is not a celebration of triumph, but a reminder of how far a regime will go to steal another’s glory.
Last week, a Chinese chemical company’s marketing executive, Yiyi Chen, was sentenced 15 years for her crime of attempting to smuggle 3 tons of fentanyl from China to the U.S..
During the sentencing hearing, Chen’s lawyer, Shaoming Cheng, argued that China was invaded by "Western powers and Japan" in modern times, and some Chinese businessmen have therefore developed resentment towards foreigners (therefore they have a reason to use fentanyl to kill Americans?).
America NEVER invaded China, has not taken one inch of land from China. In fact, during WWII America helped China to defeat Japan. That Chinese lawyer’s license needs to be revoked!