China’s V-Day Parade: A Tribute to History,A Call for Peace

Thousands of Chinese troops， along with their coun- terparts from 17 countries， marched past Tiananmen Square in the V-Day parade. Chinese President Xi Jinping reviewed the parade on the Tiananmen Rostrum. He was joined by dozens of heads of state and government as well as international organizations， including United Nations SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon， Russian President Vladimir Putin， and Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye.

It has been 84 years since China was dragged into war after Japans invasion of northeastern China in 1931. In the fourteen years that followed， over 35 million soldiers and civilians were killed or wounded in China， the main Oriental theater of World War II. Japan signed its formal WWII surrender on September 2， 1945， and China celebrated its victory the following day. The vic- tory of the Chinese Peoples War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was “the first complete victory” won by China in its resistance against foreign aggression in modern times， said Xi in his speech prior to the parade.

“This great triumph opened up bright prospects for the great renewal of the Chinese nation and set our ancient country on a new journey after gaining rebirth，” he said.

While addressing the V-Day commemoration， President Xi announced that China would cut the number of its troops by 300，000.“In the interest of peace， we need to foster a keen sense of a global community of shared future. Prejudice， discrimination， hatred and war can only cause disaster and suffering， while mutual respect， equality， peaceful development and common prosperity represent the right path to take，” he said.