In particular, China’s understanding of its war against Japan has changed significantly over the decades. Alongside Japan’s changing historical narratives of the war, this has caused a divergence in historical memory that fuels tensions between the two countries – and makes hostility more likely.
søndag 31. august 2025
China, Japan, and Shifting Narratives of War
The recent 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II inspired multiple publications on how Japan remembers its wartime history.However, there has been less said about the countries that Japan fought and their historical narratives of the war, nor how these countries’ narratives align with Japan’s understanding of its wartime history.
In particular, China’s understanding of its war against Japan has changed significantly over the decades. Alongside Japan’s changing historical narratives of the war, this has caused a divergence in historical memory that fuels tensions between the two countries – and makes hostility more likely.
In particular, China’s understanding of its war against Japan has changed significantly over the decades. Alongside Japan’s changing historical narratives of the war, this has caused a divergence in historical memory that fuels tensions between the two countries – and makes hostility more likely.
China’s parade political: academics
China’s planned military parade on Wednesday commemorating the end of World War II is a political move to project Beijing’s interests against the US-led alliance and to show Chinese President Xi Jinping’s supreme command over the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) amid the stagnant Chinese economy, academics told a symposium in Taipei yesterday.
The meaning behind the parade is more political than military, former US deputy national security adviser to the vice president Steve Yates said by videoconference during an event hosted by the Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies. The foundation had invited academics at home and abroad to share their view on the parade to be held at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
The meaning behind the parade is more political than military, former US deputy national security adviser to the vice president Steve Yates said by videoconference during an event hosted by the Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies. The foundation had invited academics at home and abroad to share their view on the parade to be held at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
China’s Xi rolls out the red carpet for Putin and Modi as Trump upends global relations
Autocrats, populists, friends and foes, a strongman waging a war in Europe and the leader of the world’s biggest democracy will all be hosted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping this weekend at a summit designed to showcase Beijing as a global leader capable of providing a counterweight to Western institutions.
Heads of state and delegations from across Asia and the Middle East will meet from Sunday in the Chinese port city of Tianjin for the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional security grouping that has emerged as a cornerstone of Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s drive to rebalance global power in their favor.
Chinese officials have billed the summit as the SCO’s largest yet, with the diplomacy and pageantry setting the stage for Xi to tout his country as a stable and powerful alternative leader at a time when the world’s leading superpower the United States under President Donald Trump is shaking up its alliances and waging a global trade war.
Heads of state and delegations from across Asia and the Middle East will meet from Sunday in the Chinese port city of Tianjin for the two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional security grouping that has emerged as a cornerstone of Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s drive to rebalance global power in their favor.
Chinese officials have billed the summit as the SCO’s largest yet, with the diplomacy and pageantry setting the stage for Xi to tout his country as a stable and powerful alternative leader at a time when the world’s leading superpower the United States under President Donald Trump is shaking up its alliances and waging a global trade war.
North Korea leader Kim promises ‘beautiful life’ for families of ‘martyrs’ killed in Russia
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised “a beautiful life” for the families of “martyrs” who perished fighting for Russia in the war against Ukraine, state media said on Saturday, praising the bereaved for the heroism of their sons and husbands.
Kim on Friday hosted the families of soldiers and expressed “grief at having failed to save the precious lives” of the fallen men who sacrificed their lives to defend the country’s honor, KCNA state news agency reported. The heroic feats of the soldiers and officers were possible because of the strength and courage given to them by families who are “the most tenacious, patriotic and just people in the world”, Kim told the parents, wives and children, KCNA said.
Kim on Friday hosted the families of soldiers and expressed “grief at having failed to save the precious lives” of the fallen men who sacrificed their lives to defend the country’s honor, KCNA state news agency reported. The heroic feats of the soldiers and officers were possible because of the strength and courage given to them by families who are “the most tenacious, patriotic and just people in the world”, Kim told the parents, wives and children, KCNA said.
Elephant-dragon tango: Modi’s visit to China signals improving ties — will the bonhomie last?
When Foxconn recalled hundreds of Chinese engineers from a factory in India last month, reportedly following Beijing’s directions to curb technology transfer to its neighbor, it was a reminder of the uneasy ties between two of Asia’s largest economies.
But with both countries facing tariff heat from Washington, could economic challenges push Beijing and New Delhi toward reluctant cooperation, transforming their adversarial relationship?
That possibility will be tested over the weekend in Tianjin, where India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to meet China’s President Xi Jinping for the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. It will be Modi’s first visit to China in seven years, after the deadly Galwan Valley clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in 2020 soured relations.
But with both countries facing tariff heat from Washington, could economic challenges push Beijing and New Delhi toward reluctant cooperation, transforming their adversarial relationship?
That possibility will be tested over the weekend in Tianjin, where India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to meet China’s President Xi Jinping for the 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. It will be Modi’s first visit to China in seven years, after the deadly Galwan Valley clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in 2020 soured relations.
Tibet was not ‘always part’ of China
When Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) stood in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa on Thursday last week, flanked by Chinese flags, synchronized schoolchildren and armed Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops, he was not just celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the “Tibet Autonomous Region,” he was making a calculated declaration: Tibet is China. It always has been. Case closed.
Except it has not. The case remains wide open — not just in the hearts of Tibetans, but in history records.
For decades, Beijing has insisted that Tibet has “always been part of China.” It is a phrase repeated in textbooks, press releases and UN statements with such numbing frequency that many accept it as fact. However, it is not true legally, politically, historically or conceptually.
Except it has not. The case remains wide open — not just in the hearts of Tibetans, but in history records.
For decades, Beijing has insisted that Tibet has “always been part of China.” It is a phrase repeated in textbooks, press releases and UN statements with such numbing frequency that many accept it as fact. However, it is not true legally, politically, historically or conceptually.
PLA aims for blockade capability by 2035: MND report
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) intends to achieve the capability to impose a joint blockade of Taiwan by 2035, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday in its latest report on China’s military.
The ministry submitted the report to the Legislative Yuan alongside the proposed defense budget and the military’s five-year force structure plan. The PLA aims to achieve conventional and nuclear second-strike capabilities that would allow it to enforce a blockade of Taiwan and prevent outside intervention, the report said.
At the same time, Beijing is expected to continue efforts to turn the Taiwan Strait into its de facto territorial waters — including frequent incursions across the median line, as well as intrusions into Taiwan’s 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone, it said.
The ministry submitted the report to the Legislative Yuan alongside the proposed defense budget and the military’s five-year force structure plan. The PLA aims to achieve conventional and nuclear second-strike capabilities that would allow it to enforce a blockade of Taiwan and prevent outside intervention, the report said.
At the same time, Beijing is expected to continue efforts to turn the Taiwan Strait into its de facto territorial waters — including frequent incursions across the median line, as well as intrusions into Taiwan’s 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone, it said.
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