Biljana Vankovska: A Black Hole in Collective Memory: China and WWII

  August 28, 2025

A Black Hole in Collective Memory: China and WWII

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Photograph Source: Sha Fei – Public Domain

As China prepares to commemorate the 80th anniversary of victory over fascism on September 3, 2025, global attention turns to Beijing’s military parade. Speculation swirls about which world leaders will join President Xi Jinping—Putin’s presence is all but certain, though whispers of Trump attending seem far-fetched. Some peace advocates argue this moment offers a chance for global powers to reflect on World War II’s horrors, a sentiment aligned with the UN Charter’s spirit and urgent amid rising global tensions. Yet, European leaders’ refusal to attend, citing concerns about offending Japan, reveals a deeper issue. China’s commemoration closes the cycle of WWII anniversaries, but it begs a critical question: do we truly understand this war’s global scope, or have we allowed vital chapters to fade into obscurity?

A glaring gap exists in our collective memory of World War II—a war we call “global,” yet one where the role of the fourth allied victor, China, is consistently sidelined. China entered the conflict first in 1931, not 1939, and endured until Japan’s surrender in 1945. Over 14 years, it suffered approximately 35 million casualties and tied down a million Japanese troops, enabling the USSR and USA to focus elsewhere. Leaders like Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin acknowledged China’s pivotal role in shaping the war’s outcome. So why is this contribution so often ignored and buried under layers of Western-focused narratives?

For many, World War II’s defining tragedy is the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, horrific acts that serve as a stark warning of humanity’s destructive power, unleashed by the United States. These events deserve remembrance, but the subsequent U.S. occupation of Japan and the imposed peace constitution (also known as the MacArthur Constitution) were less about harmony than securing a strategic foothold in the Indo-Pacific during the Cold War. Today, Japan arms itself under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, ostensibly to counter a “threat” from China. This narrative twist is as convenient as it is misleading.

Like Russia, which fiercely preserves its WW II sacrifices, China now demands recognition for its own. Its resistance to Japanese militarism remains a largely untold saga. A glimpse into this “black hole” of collective memory reveals atrocities that defy comprehension: the Nanjing Massacre of 1937, where 300,000 civilians were killed and mass rapes committed; Unit 731’s chemical and biological experiments on prisoners, including children, so vile they shocked even Nazi observers. German envoys urged Berlin to restrain Tokyo, while Japanese records meticulously documented their brutal chaos. Brave Japanese historians have since exposed these horrors, yet they remain marginal in global discourse. Why the silence?

Uncovering WWII’s history from Asia’s perspective exposes a shameful truth: Western narratives, amplified by Hollywood and media, have selectively glorified some stories while erasing others. The result? Perpetrators are rehabilitated, and victims recast as villains. The West often clings to a biased stance that values some lives over others. Chinese victims have received scant global acknowledgment, their suffering overshadowed by Japan’s post-war redemption narrative. This hypocrisy echoes today in Gaza, where selective outrage, tears for Ukraine but silence for 22 months of Gazan suffering under Israel’s policies, reveals the same double standard. European leaders, shaped by colonial legacies they frame as a “civilizing mission,” are complicit. Meanwhile, the U.S. fuels a trade war with China and, as Kaja Kallas and some media outlets warn, braces for broader conflict, while painting China as “authoritarian and belligerent.” This clashes starkly with China’s anti-fascist history and its modern commitment to global peace.

The adage that victors write history unravels here. China, a clear victor, was denied the platform to showcase its courage, sacrifices, and contributions. Today, it’s unjustly branded as a threat by Western discourse. World War II neither began nor ended in Europe. China, a founding UN member and the first to sign the UN Charter, remains its most steadfast supporter. It rejects the U.S.-dominated narrative, crafted by a latecomer to the war that suffered the least yet unleashed atomic devastation. China’s WWII legacy fuels its modern mission: eradicating poverty, aiding the Global South, building global infrastructure, and championing peace and a shared future for mankind.

Beijing’s commemoration is a bold rebuttal to the West’s monopolization of WWII memory. As Warwick Powell aptly states: “For eight decades, the West has rewritten World War II as an U.S. and European victory, relegating China to footnote status. China’s commemoration this year challenges that amnesia, reclaiming the country’s role as a central force in defeating fascism.” In today’s troubled times, however, remembrance alone isn’t enough. From Gaza to beyond, the fight against inhumanity and fascism demands we confront these historical blind spots and their modern echoes.

This article was produced by Globetrotter.