Tensions in Japan-China relations have escalated following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi¡¯s Nov. 7 remarks on the right to collective self-defense, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi calling them ¡°²õ³ó´Ç³¦°ì¾±²Ô²µ¡± and repeatedly demanding a retraction. Key to China¡¯s argument is its positioning of itself as the guardian of the ¡°postwar international order¡± while portraying Japan as its destroyer in a year that marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Chinese narratives of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and World War II have undergone a gradual but significant transformation since the Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao eras that preceded Chinese leader Xi Jinping¡¯s rise to power in 2012-2013. One notable shift is the movement away from a victim-centered narrative toward a portrayal of China ¡ª specifically the Chinese Communist Party ¡ª as a major Allied power that secured victory and helped establish the ¡°postwar international order.¡±
At a symposium marking the 69th anniversary of World War II victory in 2014, Xi declared that China had served as the ¡°main theater of war in the East¡± and ¡°an important component of the World Anti-Fascist War.¡± He argued that China must ¡°defend the achievements of the victory against fascism¡± and ¡°resolutely uphold the postwar international order.¡±
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