CRI听力:China's War against Japanese Aggression in Eye of Western Historian

Rana Mitter says he spent over a decade writing his book--China's War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival.

Chongqing is the city he visited most.

"During the period from 1937 to 1946, it was the temporary wartime capital of China. You could say that Chongqing stood alongside London, Washington and Moscow, as an important allied capital. But this history in the name of Chongqing is still not well known in the West today. So I want to try to restore some of that history to a bigger audience. Actually I found the reaction of the Chinese was very positive."

He cites May 4th, 1939 - the 20th anniversary of 'Wusi' - as an important date in the city's history.

"And even today most people in China will know the May 4th movement decided to renew its culture, create new culture, Mr. Science and Mr. Democracy, all these ideas. And exactly 20 years later to the day May 4th 1939, there were attempts by the Japanese to obliterate and destroy that legacy. So I thought the fact China and Chongqing had resisted that air raid on that date was also an important symbol of where China rethought its role and thought about its resistance during that time."

Mitter says that though the Chinese people's war against aggression started earliest and lasted longest, the western countries have very limited knowledge on China's role in World War II.

"But I think it's very important in the west that we don't think everything began with Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939 and remember that China had been fighting almost alone, not quite but almost unsupported, for some two years before the outbreak of war in 1939 in Europe."

Mitter says the reason China's role in World War II has not received much attention in the west is largely due to patterns that emerged globally in the years immediately after the war, affecting communications between east and west.

Mitter says looking at the history of China's war against Japanese aggression will help western countries understand China's development and its relations with neighboring countries.

"People often don't realize the issues including the continuing tensions and difficulties between various aspects in the region but also the desire to create more mutual and consensual structure of engagement in the region. In some sense, through the legacy of 1945, there was never a full peace treaty that included everyone in Asia, unlike in Europe in 1945. So to some extent I think all of the major actors in the region are still trying to finish the unfinished business of 1945."

Mitter's book has been strongly echoed by western media who agree that westerners know little about this period of history.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, Mitter says the world should take a deeper look at China's contribution towards the victory against global fascism.

For CRI, I'm XYee.