Exhibition of World Anti-Fascist War victory held at UN

UNITED NATIONS - An exhibition marking the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was held at the United Nations headquarters on Monday.

The exhibition, titled "Remembering for Peace", displayed many historical photos showcasing the efforts made in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

"We would never want to see it (the scourge) again and we have an obligation to prevent it from happening," said Jan Eliasson, deputy secretary-general of the United Nations at the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

"It (the war) was of course an unspeakable series of horrible events, both on the battlefield and affecting civilians to a degree that had never happened in history," said Eliasson.

"70 years ago, the Chinese people, through painstaking struggles and with enormous sacrifices, ultimately defeated the atrocious aggression of the Japanese militarists and won the nation's first complete victory over foreign invaders in modern history," said Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, also at the opening ceremony.

The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was part and parcel of the World Anti-Fascist War. The flames of the horrific war started by the fascists engulfed over 80 countries and regions in Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania, bringing untold suffering to nearly 2 billion People. The Chinese people, who bore the brunt of the war the earliest and for the longest, made the most enormous sacrifices, said Wang.

China was the first country in the world to fight fascist forces when Japanese troops began invading northeast China on Sept 18, 1931. Japan began its full-scale invasion of China in 1937.

By the end of the Second World War, more than 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed or wounded. The defeat of the Japanese invaders was a turning point for China after more than a century of humiliation at the hands of foreign aggressors.

"The photos on display here may fade with time, but the indomitable spirit, the exceptional valor, and the unyielding perseverance and resilience thereby shown remain as the most valuable asset of the Chinese nation," said Wang.