First V-Day military parade justified

The year 2015 saw China organize a series of activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the triumph of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

China has held a military parade in Beijing every five or 10 years on the National Day on Oct 1 after 1949, the year when the People's Republic of China was founded. But it made an exception this year, holding the V-Day military parade in Beijing on Sept 3. Many of its former allies in World War II, such as Russia, also celebrated the hard-won victory in the anti-fascist war this year.

China's commemoration of the victory in the anti-fascist war may have confounded many countries. But China had every reason to make its wartime sacrifices in and contributions to the anti-fascist war known to the wider world in 2015.