China's contribution to WWII victory under-valued: war historian

BEIJING -- China's contribution to the World Anti-Fascist War is not as well known or appreciated as it should be in Western historical studies, a leading American scholar of military history said on Wednesday.

Harold E. Raugh, Jr., president of the International Commission of Military History, made the remarks during a conversation themed "Contemporary Significance of the Victory in the World Anti-Fascist War" ahead of the opening ceremony of the 12th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, an international security dialogue in Beijing.

Raugh said that by publishing historical works in English and other European languages, Western powers have sought to dominate the political narrative, effectively monopolizing the history of World War II.

He also noted that Chinese remains a challenging language for many Westerners, who have limited access to original source materials, further hindering global awareness of China's perspective and reinforcing the Western monopoly over historical narratives.

This linguistic barrier, combined with the West's deep-seated fear of communism in the post-war era, led to the marginalization and neglect of China's significant contributions to the Allied victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, according to Raugh.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. China held a series of events, including a large-scale military parade, to commemorate the victory.

China made great contributions to the victory. In its 14-year-long resistance from 1931 to 1945, China tied down and struck over half of Japan's overseas forces, at the cost of 35 million military and civilian casualties, accounting for around one-third of all WWII casualties worldwide.

Correct understanding of WWII and safeguarding the post-war world system are major topics in this year's Xiangshan Forum, which runs from Wednesday to Friday.