Russia and China for the First Time Celebrate the Victory Day Together
Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov
gestures after presenting a medal to Han
Moning, a Chinese veteran of World War Two,
during a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary
of the end of the Second World War at the
Russian Embassy in Beijing, April 15, 2015
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Senior Research Fellow at RAS Institute of Far Eastern Studies
This year, Russia and China will for the first time jointly commemorate their victory against fascism, both countries regarding this day primarily as a tribute to the heroic generations of the Russians and the Chinese who shouldered the burdens of World War II and suffered the greatest losses. Joint events in Moscow and Beijing also testify to the cooperative endeavor made to defend the achievements of the Great Victory and oppose any attempts to distort the history of the war. The shared celebration is also a new and major step toward strengthening the Russian-Chinese partnership, trust and friendship.
This year, Russia and China will for the first time jointly commemorate their victory against fascism, both countries regarding this day primarily as a tribute to the heroic generations of the Russians and the Chinese who shouldered the burdens of World War II and suffered the greatest losses. Joint events in Moscow and Beijing also testify to the cooperative endeavor made to defend the achievements of the Great Victory and oppose any attempts to distort the history of the war. The shared celebration is also a new and major step toward strengthening the Russian-Chinese partnership, trust and friendship.
Commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the defeat of German fascism and Japanese militarism are being held absolutely free from any kind of politicization and are far from a response to the massive anti-Russian campaign unleashed by the West. As a matter of fact, the decision to coordinate the celebrations in principle was taken in February 2014 when President Xi Jinping attended the Sochi Olympics and was confirmed by a joint Russia-Chinese statement when President Putin visited Shanghai for the SCO Summit.
Festivities. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of Victory Day, Russia and China will hold over 60 joint events including film shows, exhibitions, conferences, seminars and contests. The participation of the two leaders will be the centerpiece.
Monument to the People's Heroes
President Xi Jinping will be the main guest on May 9 in Moscow to celebrate the victory of the Soviet people in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, continuing a tradition started by his predecessors. President Putin will pay a return visit and attend the military parade to be held for the first time in Beijing next September 3 in commemoration of the victorious resistance of the Chinese people against Japanese invaders. Until now, military parades in China have been conducted only on the anniversaries of the People's Republic of China.
Awards to Chinese veterans. On April 15, Russia's Embassy to China decorated Chinese veterans with the anniversary medal of 70 Years to Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The Chinese refer to these persons as the second red generation. These are the children of renowned Chinese revolutionaries, who were evacuated to the USSR during the civil war and war against Japan and brought up in the Ivanovo international orphanage, sharing in the tribulations of those times with the Soviet people. Elderly people worked in factories, dug trenches and provided assistance to the wounded in hospitals.
The Repentance Dilemma: Modern Japan and
WWII. Сomments by Alexander Panov, and
Dmitry Streltsov.
Recipients include the daughters of Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Qu Qiubai and Li Fuchun. Chinese veterans were also decorated with anniversary medals during the celebrations of the 50th and 60th Victory Day anniversaries.
Valor and glory. The Chinese very much honor the wartime friendship that united the two great nations during the war. They will never forget the heroism of Soviet pilots who fought the Japanese in the skies of China during the days of resistance. China treasures the memory of the Soviet warriors who fell in the battles against the Quantung Army in the course of liberating the Chinese northeast in 1945, while the struggle of the Chinese people helped paralyze the Japanese troops in order to divert their attack against the Soviet Union.
The names of the Great Patriotic War heroes are still placed in the memory of the older Chinese generation, to a great extent thanks to Soviet war literature and films, which are popular both in China and Russia.
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