Recently, Former Slovenian President Danilo Turk said that the sacrifice and contribution of the Chinese people during World War II remain underestimated globally and deserve wider recognition.
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Turk, now a professor of international law, said while the world usually regards Sept. 1, 1939 as the start of World War II, atrocities began earlier in Asia.
“China had many victims in the Second World War and was among the first victims of aggression, long before the war in Europe began,” he said. “China’s contribution to the defeat of Japan and the end of the war remains insufficiently understood, and this historical mistake should be corrected, even 80 years later.”
Reflecting on the war’s broader significance, Turk said China was both a victim of Japanese militarism and a key contributor to its defeat. More should be done to raise global awareness of China’s wartime contribution, he said, noting that it is a long-term task that requires cooperation among historians, writers and filmmakers.
“Young people need to know history. Much has to be done in popular culture, particularly film production, so that the memory of that era is preserved,” Turk said and highlighted China’s constructive role in safeguarding peace and promoting multilateralism.
The world should take the Global Governance Initiative proposed by China seriously, he said, adding that its five core concepts — adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by the international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating a people-centered approach, and focusing on taking real actions — are all very important.
“China has sufficient power, self-assurance and wisdom to avoid unnecessary conflicts. It is developing economically and enlarging the circle of cooperation, which makes it well placed to explain how it sees the world today and how it wants the world to be organized in the future,” he noted.
