CRI听力:WWII's China Theatre (I)

August 15th, 1945, three months after Nazi Germany's final defeat, the world heard the then Emperor Hirohito conceding defeat, and announcing that Japan would surrender to allied countries unconditionally.

"We have ordered our government to communicate to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union that our Empire accepts the provisions of their joint declaration."

A surrender ceremony was held on USS Missouri at Tokyo Bay on September 2nd.

As a main battlefield in World War Two, China's resistance war lasted longer, suffered one-third of the world's total casualty and paved the way for a quicker defeat of Nazi-Germany and Italy in Europe.

For Europe, it was a war of almost 6 years since the occupation and partition of Poland in September 1939. But for China, the war dragged on for 14 years, starting with the occupation of its northeast in September 1931, and then turning to a full-out war after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in Beijing on July 7th, 1937.

Rana Mitter, Professor of History and Politics of Modern China at University of Oxford, also the author of "Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945", believes China played an important and substantial role during the war through its lengthy resistance to Japanese aggression.

"Because China did continue to resist Japan, it made it possible eventually for the allies to join it after Pearl Harbor, and eventually win the victory in Asia."

Hu Dekun, President of the Chinese Association for the History of World War Two, says China was the first country to fight against the fascists, and it fought alone against Japan until 1941, when the Pacific War broke out.

"The Marco Polo Bridge Incident marks the whole nation's resistance against Japanese invasion. China is the first battlefield against fascism in the world. The Communist Party of China and Kuomintang both fight against the Japanese invaders. In the following 4 years, China fought alone. That was incredible."

As incredible indeed, as Britain once did in Europe, fighting alone, in the early years against the German military machine after the fall of France, till Adolf Hitler opened a second battlefront against Josef Stalin's Red Army.

Japan struck Pearl Harbor in 1941, and attacked British and US troops in Southeast Asian nations at the same time.

Even then, China was still the main battlefield against the Axis powers in the east. Among Japan's 51 ground corps, nearly 70% were located in China.

Rana Mitter says China's resistance is of great strategic significance to World War II.

"They made sure that very large numbers of Japanese troops……were held down in China rather than being redeployed, sent away instead to the Pacific or elsewhere. And that means that by making that contribution, China played a significant role in the overall ally's victory."

Sugiyama Hajime, Japan's then Chief of Army General Staff once admitted "It is actually impossible to move northward since massive troops have been deployed in China."

Then U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt praised Chinese people's efforts against Japanese aggression.

"We are fighting on the same side as the brave people of China—those millions who for four and a half long years have withstood bombs and starvation and have whipped the invaders time and again in spite of the superior Japanese equipment and arms."

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said: "If the Japanese attack the West Indian Ocean, all our positions in the Middle East will be lost. Only China can help us to prevent that from happening."

Former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin said: "Only when the Japanese invaders' hands and feet are tied up, can we avoid fighting on two fronts simultaneously when the German invaders attack us."

Pinning down the majority of Japanese divisions in China -- that helped ensure a quicker victory in Europe, as China effectively delayed or prevented Japanese troops from advancing elsewhere as planned. This made it impossible for the three Axis countries from joining hands in Euro-Asia, relieving Russia of fighting on two battlefronts, while allied nations could fight side by side on both theatres.

Besides fighting at home, China also sent expedition troops to Burma, today's Myanmar in 1942, to fight alongside British forces, helping secure vital supply lines in Southeast Asia.

But the cost of war, which involved four million troops from both sides, was bitter pains and heavy losses. Approximately 35 million Chinese people were killed or wounded, that's about one-third of the world's total casualty.

Xiaoyi with Part One of our special series on the 70th anniversary of VJ Day, focusing on the Chinese Theatre. Tomorrow, our second report reviews the difficult battles, featuring two Chinese individuals, a guerrilla soldier and an oxherd boy.