by Xinhua writers Cao Pengyuan and Ren Ke

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhua) -- For the Chinese people, the July 7th Incident in 1937 remains as unforgettable an episode of World War II (WWII) as Nazi Germany's Blitzkrieg invasion of Poland or Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor is for Westerners.

Eighty-eight years ago, on that very day in July, Japanese troops attacked the Chinese garrison at Lugou Bridge, also known as Marco Polo Bridge, located in what is now the Fengtai District of Beijing, under the pretext of searching for a missing Japanese soldier.

While Japan's aggression against China began as early as 1931, the July 7th Incident marked its escalation into a full-scale invasion and the start of China's nationwide resistance.

No less heinous than fascist war crimes in Europe, such as the killing of at least 1.1 million people by Nazi forces in the Auschwitz concentration camp, Japanese troops inflicted a series of atrocities on innocent Chinese people in the course of their invasion.

On Dec. 13, 1937, following the capture of then Chinese capital Nanjing, Japanese troops began more than 40 days of slaughter. About 300,000 civilians and unarmed Chinese soldiers were brutally murdered and over 20,000 women raped.

However, a more united and unyielding China emerged from the burning ashes and rubble caused by Japanese bombardment and gunfire. United as one under the banner of the Chinese united front against Japanese aggression, which was advocated and established by the Communist Party of China, the Chinese people launched a relentless struggle against the brutal Japanese militarists.

Even in the face of death and destruction, China still strove to preserve its intellectual and cultural vitality. Scholars and students relocated from Japanese-occupied territories to China's remote southwest, where they rebuilt top-tier institutions, such as the National Southwestern Associated University.

China was not alone in this anti-fascist struggle. In the darkest hours of the war, the Soviet Volunteer Group, part of the Soviet Air Force, came to Nanjing, Wuhan and Chongqing to fight alongside the Chinese people. Many sacrificed their lives during aerial combat.

In 1941, the American Volunteer Group, famously known as the Flying Tigers for its winged-tiger emblem, was formed to assist the Chinese Air Force. With a 2,000-plus death toll, these pilots shot down over 2,600 Japanese fighter planes and opened up the Hump Route for transporting emergency supplies.

In 1942, the Chinese Expeditionary Force, comprising over 100,000 soldiers, was dispatched to Myanmar and India to fight Japanese forces alongside the Allies. During the mission, nearly half of the Chinese soldiers were killed or injured. It strongly supported and coordinated with the Allied campaigns against Japan, as well as the anti-Japanese resistance of the Southeast Asian people.

Doubtlessly, China played an indispensable role in the World Anti-Fascist War, and their fight started the earliest and lasted the longest. During 14 years of resistance from 1931 to 1945, China engaged and tied down more than two-thirds of Japan's ground forces -- resulting in over 70 percent of Japan's wartime military casualties.

This monumental effort greatly supported the United States and the United Kingdom in the Pacific, and enabled the Soviet Union to concentrate on its campaign against Nazi Germany without fear of a Japanese assault from the East.

However, China's sacrifice was also staggering. Of the more than 100 million casualties in the global war against fascism, over 35 million were Chinese soldiers and civilians.

About four months after Victory in Europe Day, Japan formally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945 -- marking the end of WWII.

Following the Allied victory, China actively participated in founding the United Nations (UN) and building the post-war international order. China was among the first to sign the UN Charter, which enshrines the principle of sovereign equality and affirms that all nations, irrespective of size, strength or wealth, are equal. That became the cornerstone of the post-war international order.

Through its contributions and sacrifices during the war, China earned its status as a victorious nation of WWII and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Therefore, the rights China holds as a WWII victor should be respected and not challenged, especially concerning Taiwan's restoration to China, which was an integral part of the post-war international order.

To remember the struggle of past generations is not to perpetuate hatred, but to create a better future for generations to come. Humanity must learn from WWII, resolutely oppose all forms of hegemony and power politics, and firmly uphold the post-war international order -- with the UN at its core.

Today, amid a complex and turbulent international landscape, it is all the more essential to uphold and defend the authority of the UN, firmly uphold the UN-centered international system, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and steadily promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. ■