Foreign troops marching in unity in Beijing parade

Troops from Fiji march through Tian'anmen Square as part of the parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the world's victory against fascism. ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY/REUTERS

Sara Imas, 65, followed the parade broadcast in Shanghai. Imas is of Jewish descent born in the eastern Chinese city. Her parents arrived in Shanghai in 1939. They were among 30,000 refugees migrating from Europe during the war.

"The Chinese put themselves in our position and offered help to us in the most difficult times," Imas said. "So I am proud of the parade."

Chinese people's empathy with Jewish refugees stemmed mostly from their own sufferings inflicted by the Japanese invaders.

China was the first country to face the onslaught of the Axis Powers in 1937, two years before Britain and France, and four years before the United States, Rana Mitter wrote in his 2013 book Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937－1945.

China's anti-fascist war began even earlier. On Sept 18, 1931, the Japanese army invaded northeastern China, marking the starting point of the Chinese people's struggle against fascism.

US reporter Israel Epstein, writer of The People's War, was initially skeptical of the ill-equipped army of a country resisting Japanese aggression.

Epstein, a reporter on wartime China, was surprised to find the Communist-led, guerrilla-mobilized farmers in occupied North China helping to form a vast rural base for tenacious, protracted war.

He described China as "an important ally of democracy and frightening enemy of fascist invaders," whose struggle provided "meanings and hope" for people all over the world.

China considered the march-past of foreign troops in its V-Day parade as a symbol of the unity that the Allies had to defeat the evil forces.

Dmitry Bobrov, commander of the Russian troops in Thursday's parade, said: "Our elder generations once fought a common enemy, now we march at a synchronized pace. It has symbolic meaning."