In the run-up to Wednesday’s grand military parade in Beijing to commemorate the end of World War II, China has stepped up calls to confront what mainland academics have described as Western “historical nihilism” in the predominant account of the war.
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Through books, archives, reports and commentary, scholars are urging the establishment of a “truthful, fair and pluralistic” shared memory that acknowledges not only the pivotal role of China but also the wider contributions of others, including India, Russia and Southeast Asian countries.
“By reshaping the global narrative of the anti-fascist war through a Western-centric lens, downplaying the strategic value of the Eastern theatre, exaggerating Western contributions and reconstructing historical evaluation standards based on present-day political needs, a grave challenge has been posed to the collective memory of World War II,” wrote Liu Bensen, a professor at Shandong Normal University.
“The manifestations of historical nihilism in Western studies of World War II are far from mere academic disputes; they concern major issues – the construction of collective human memory, the legitimacy of the post-war international order and the prospects for global peace and development,” he wrote in an article first published in Study Times, a Central Party School newspaper, on Friday.
Liu’s remarks chimed with Beijing’s greater efforts in recent years to reshape accounts of the second world war, highlighting China’s pivotal wartime contributions and calling for due recognition of the Asian theatre’s significance.
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Ahead of Wednesday’s parade, Beijing emphasised the wartime contributions of nations in the Eastern battlefields and their solidarity with China as it seeks to expand its voice and boost ties with neighbours and allies amid its tense rivalry with the US.