On May 9th, Victory Day in the world war against fascism, at the invitation of Russia´s
President Vladimir Putin, I will visit Russia and take part in the celebrations in Moscow
devoted to the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. This sacred day I will celebrate together with the Russian people and the entire world.
By Xi Jinping, who released this op-ed in a Russian newspaper on May 6th, 2015
Everyone remembers that the aggressive wars begun by the fascists and militarists inflicted
unprecedented damage and suffering on the peoples of China, Russia, and the countries of
Europe, Asia, and other parts of the world. The relentless struggle between justice and evil,
light and darkness, freedom and slavery, was joined by the peoples of China, Russia, and
more than 50 other countries, as well as by all the other peace-loving peoples of the world,
who stood up as one and formed a broad international anti-fascist and anti-militarist front.
All these nations fought in bloody battles against the enemy, and in so doing defeated the
most evil and brutal aggressors, bringing peace to the world.
I remember, in March 2013, when I first visited Russia on a state visit, I laid a wreath at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin walls. There was a depiction of a soldier´s
helmet and a red banner on the tomb, and there burned an eternal fire, symbolizing the
unbroken life and unwavering fearlessness of our fallen heroes. “Your name is unknown,
your deeds are immortal.” They will never be forgotten by the Russian people, the Chinese
people, or anyone else.
China was the main theater of military operations in Asia during the Second World War. The
Chinese people stood up before anyone else in the struggle against the Japanese militarists,
waged the longest war, fought in the hardest conditions, and, like Russia, suffered the most
enormous losses. The Chinese army and people fought stoically and persistently, locking
down and destroying numerous contingents of the Japanese aggressors. At the cost of a
huge national sacrifice – the lives of more than 35 million people – a great victory was
finally won and an enormous contribution was made to victory in the world struggle against
fascism. The exploits of the Chinese people in the war against the militarists, just like the
exploits of the Russian people, will be immortalized forever in history and will never die.
The Chinese and Russian peoples supported each other, helped each other, they were
comrades in arms in the war against fascism and militarism, and built a friendship with each
other forged with blood and life. In the most difficult times of the Great Patriotic War, many
of the best sons and daughters of the Chinese people decisively joined in the battle against
German fascism. Mao Anying – the eldest son of Chairman Mao Zedong – fought on many
battles as a political officer of a tank company of the 1st Belorussian Front, up to the
storming of Berlin. The Chinese fighter pilot Tang Duo, as deputy commander of a fighter
company of the Soviet Army, distinguished himself in air battles against the fascist forces.
Children of the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party and descendants of the fallen
heroes of the Chinese Revolution, when studying at the Ivanovo international boarding
school, despite that they were still only children, nonetheless went off to dig trenches,
prepared Molotov cocktails, prepared food and clothes for the fighters, chopped trees, dug
out potatoes, and looked after the wounded in hospitals. Apart from that, many of them
regularly donated blood – 430 millilitres once per month for the soldiers at the front. The
Chinese female journalist Hu Jibang, small and weak, underwent the entire war from the
first day to the last, through bullets and fire, writing about the resilience and courage of the
Soviet people, the barbarous cruelty of the fascist hordes, and the joy of the Russian
soldiers and people in their times of triumph. It emboldened the armies and peoples of both
countries, raising their will to fight to the end, to the final victory. Alongside the above
heroes there are many other representatives of the Chinese people who contributed to the
Great Patriotic War while remaining unknown soldiers.
The Russian people gave the Chinese people valuable political and moral support in their
war against Japanese invaders. This included large convoys of arms and war material. More
than 2,000 Soviet fighter pilots joined the Chinese air force and helped in the air battles
over China. More than 200 of them died in battles over Chinese soil. In the closing phase of
the war, Red Army soldiers of the Soviet Union were sent to north-east China. Together with
the Chinese army and people they fought against the Japanese militarists, which helped
China tremendously in achieving final victory. The Chinese people will always remember
the Russians, both soldiers and civilians, who gave their lives for the independence and
liberation of the Chinese nation.
The famous Russian historian Vasily Klyuchevsky said, that, having forgotten history, our
soul can get lost in the darkness. To forget history is to commit treason. The Chinese and
Russian peoples stand ready, together with all peace-loving countries and peoples, and with
the automost determination and decisiveness, to oppose any actions or attempts to deny,
distort, and rewrite the history of the Second World War.
This year, China and Russia will hold a series of events to mark the 70th anniversary of
Victory in the Second World War. There will also be many other events conducted by the
UN and other international and regional organizations. The purpose of these events and
celebrations is to demonstrate our determination to defend the results of the Second World
War, to protect international equality and justice, and to remind out contemporaries that it is
necessary to preserve and guard the peace that was won for humanity at too high a price.
The hard lessons of the Second World War tell people, that humanity´s coexistence is not
subject to the laws of the jungle; that world politics is diametrically contradictory to
belligerent and hegemonic power politics; and that the path of human development is not
founded on the principle of “winner takes all” or in games with zero-sum outcomes. Peace –
yes, war – no, cooperation – yes, confrontation – no, mutual gains are honored, while
zero-sum results – are not: This is what constitutes the unchanging core and essence of
peace, progress, and the development of human society.
Today, mankind has unprecedentedly good opportunities for the realization of our goal –
peace, development, and the formation of a system of international relations that is ever
more strongly based on the spirit of cooperation and mutual benefits. “Unity – is strength,
while self-isolation – is weakness.” Cooperation and the win-win principle should be adopted
as the basic orientation of all countries in international affairs. We have to unite our own
interests with the common interests of all countries, find and expand on the common points
of interests of different parties, develop and establish a new conception of multilateral
win-win, to always be ready to extend a helping hand to each other at difficult times, to
partake together of rights, interests, and responsibilities, and to collectively collaborate to
solve growing global problems such as climate change, energy security, cybersecurity,
national disasters, and so on. In short, we are in it together on our planet Earth – the
homeland of all humanity.
The Chinese people and the Russian people – they are both great peoples. In the years of
grief and misery, our indestructible camaraderie was cemented in place with blood. Today
the peoples of China and Russian will hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder defend peace,
promote development, and make their contributions to lasting world peace and human
progress.
Patriarch Kirill
From Abolition Caucus, via, Unz Review | Anatoly Karlin | May 9, 2015
http://www.unz.com/akarlin/
