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China will hold a military parade in Tian'anmen Square, downtown Beijing, on Sept. 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, according to the Information Office of China’s State Council.

The parade is held as part of a grand gathering to commemorate the anniversary. Chinese President Xi Jinping will review the troops during the parade.

Featuring marching formations, armored columns, and aerial echelons, the parade will display new types of combat forces, including unmanned, intelligent equipment.

It has also been announced that China intends to invite leaders and senior officials of foreign countries and international organizations to the ceremony. At Tuesday’s press briefing by the State Council, a senior Chinese military official said that China will not forget the valuable assistance and support of peace-loving countries and anti-fascist forces during the Second World War, including the Soviet Union, the United States and Canada, etc.

China’s win 80 years ago was hard fought, through the "blood, toil, tears and sweat" of the Chinese people. China was the first country to suffer from and fight against fascist invasion and was also the country that fought the longest war against such invasion. The Chinese War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression started in 1931 when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded the northeastern part of China and turned into a bitter 14-year-long fight. Around 35 million soldiers and civilians in China lost their lives or were wounded in the war. The country lost around 600 billion U.S. dollars in tangible assets and the loss of intangible assets is beyond calculation.

War isn’t a distant memory to the Chinese nation. That, in large part, explains why China is strongly committed to peace and maintaining the post-WWII global order that has benefited many nations, including China itself. Chinese leaders have stressed on multiple occasions that the country firmly adheres to an independent foreign policy of peace and will stay on the right path of peaceful development. China strongly supports the principles of the UN Charter and actively participates in regional and international governance platforms. Most recently, in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, Fu Cong, Chinese ambassador to the UN, called on parties to restrain the impulse of force, respect the sovereignty and security of nations, and strictly follow international law.

It also explains why China is determined to build its military into a force for peace and justice. China is now the top contributor of peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The country has sent a total of over 50,000 peacekeepers to defend peace in the world’s most challenging regions. As the world’s second-largest economy, China is taking up its share of responsibilities in safeguarding global security and stability.

The celeration is particularly relevant today as we witness risks of the current world order being dragged back into the law of the jungle by certain powers and flare-ups of conflicts in various parts of the world. If not in question, the ceasefire in the Middle East remains delicate, and hope for an ?expeditious settlement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict looks slim.

For China, the concept of absolute and exclusive security is not viable, and the Western way of forging military alliances will not bring peace. China believes in common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, as set up in the Global Security Initiative, which has won support from more than 100 countries and international and regional organizations.

China’s fight against Japanese aggression then ultimately contributed to the Allied victory in the Pacific at an incredibly high price for the Chinese nation. China’s contribution to the victory, vital but often overlooked, contains many valuable lessons for the world to revisit today.

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