A victory to echo throughout history

China's V-Day parade not only makes clear its key role in defeating fascism, it also shows a powerful, modern nation has emerged in its wake

There is an African proverb that says: "Until a son is old enough, he will not bother to ask what killed his father in order to take revenge".

China's 70th anniversary Victory Day parade on Sept 3 has come and gone, but it no doubt left many things to talk about for a long time.

The ceremony demonstrated that China has come of age and can no longer be ignored by the rest of the world. If you were Chinese, you would be proud knowing you had a strong country united by history.

President Xi Jinping welcomed visiting heads of state, who went through the Duanmen Gate that leads to the Forbidden City, to honor culture and tradition and to tie the past with the future.

The large turnout of invited guests, including foreigners, had a great sense of expectation on their faces.

No fewer than 17 countries sent a total of 1,000 troops to take part in the parade, joining 12,000 Chinese troops in Tian'anmen Square. China displayed an array of modern military hardware including tanks, fighter jets and ballistic missiles.

More than 30 leaders from friendly countries around the world, including some African countries, were in Beijing including South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Russia's Vladimir Putin. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also attended.

Leading the African solidarity was an Egyptian military team and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Presidents Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia, Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Omar al-Bashir of Sudan were on the list, as was Abdelkader Bensalah, chairman of Algeria's Council of the Nation.

Among those attending were veterans of the Soviet Union that fought alongside Chinese troops and veterans of the Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Group that helped defend China from Japanese air power.

A day before the parade, Xi gave out 30 medals to war veterans for their heroic contributions during the war against the Japanese. Chinese soldiers who fought Japan under both the communist-led armies and those of the Kuomintang were honored.

On the day of the parade, Xi said the day would go down in history in remembrance of the remarkable times in which the world stood against Japanese aggression. While thanking the world leaders who stood by China, he said that "the war was evil but justice prevailed".

He reminded participants that China's war with Japan started well before World War II. Japanese troops invaded Manchuria in Northeast China in 1931, setting up the Manchukuo puppet government. The Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, an all-out war with Japan, started in 1937.

Xi said that during the war, great sacrifices were made. Chinese officials say 20 million died and 15 million were wounded in China. Xi said China also will always remember the contribution of other countries in the defeat of Japan during the war.

"The best way to honor those who gave their lives is to embrace peace and development, which should be the new trend," Xi said. He added that history's lessons advocate for "a global community of shared destiny and common prosperity that will guarantee peace". That can be achieved, he said, through "a new type of international relations that promotes a win-win situation".

While saying that China loves peace, he announced that China would reduce its military forces by 300,000 troops by the end of 2017.

Observers say China demonstrated that its military has come of age and sent a signal to the world that a secure world should be the responsibility of all nations.

China has been secretly nursing a grudge over her contributions to winning WWII having often been downplayed or forgotten in the West. Observers say the parade was a reminder of China's key role in defeating Japanese militarists.

It also shows that China emerged from the war stronger and more united, and with a strong military and strong economy.

Chinese youths who watched the parade said they were happy about the readiness of the People's Liberation Army to defend the nation. Many also were particularly impressed over the array of new military hardware that had not been publicly displayed before.

"I am proud of what we have achieved over time. We have the population, a strong economy, and we need to secure our people.

"We need to show our military might and tell our would-be enemies that never again should any part of our territory be tampered with," says Chen Asen, a student in Beijing.

Another youth, Zhang Tuben, says the parade reminded him of many years of sacrifice. It's tempting, he says, to join the army. "China used the parade to show our unity in strength, big economy and modern military hardware that modern warfare requires," he says.

The buildup to the celebration began over three months ago. Sections of Beijing were shut down and factories temporarily suspended work to ensure the parade came off flawlessly under bright blue skies.

To mark this auspicious time in the annals of China's history, officials say Beijing decided to hold the parade on Sept 3 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II to serve various domestic and international purposes.

While Japan officially surrended to the Allies aboard the battleship USS Missouri on Sept 2, 1945, Japanese forces in China formally surrendered to the Chinese on Sept 9, 1945, at 9 am in Nanjing.

My visits to some of China's provinces showed that China has successfully rebuilt after the destructiveness of the Japanese invasion. Its economy is now the second largest in the world, and it is Africa's largest trade partner.

At home, China has strengthened the bond of unity among its 56 recognized ethnic groups. The war and its aftermath led to the emergence of a modern China.

Today, China has many museums documenting the horrors inflicted on the nation by the Japanese military, and how China's resistance caused the Japanese military machine to grind to a halt, so that what happened is never forgotten.

A large part of Japan's military muscle was tied up in China and unavailable to invade the Soviet Union, India, or Australia, or more strongly oppose Allied forces in the Pacific. Without Chinese resistance, the war may have had a very different outcome, historians say.

The world's reappraisal of China's role in the defeat of the fascist powers also speaks to the role of many thousands of Africans who died as a result of World War II and its effects, as in such nations as Ethiopia, South Africa and the colony of Ruanda-Urundi, which became the nations of Rwanda and Burundi.

Fascist Italy invaded and occupied Ethiopia in 1935 in the run-up to World War II. Allied forces fought and defeated Italian troops in the Horn of Africa early in WWII, and troops from many parts of eastern and southern Africa were involved.

Historians say 15,000 soldiers and 85,000 civilians died in Ethiopia, nearly 12,000 soldiers from South Africa were killed, and some 300,000 died in Ruanda-Urundi of a war-aggravated famine.

The few who suffered during that time who are still living also continue to hope that their sacrifice is also one day recognized by the world.

The author is head of foreign operations for the News Agency of Nigeria. He is on a 10-month scholarship with the China-Africa Press Center in Beijing. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

For China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/11/2015 page14)