War Memorials Put the Party Front and Center for 80th Anniversary

In September 2024, local officials hosted an event honoring those who served in the Second Sino-Japanese War in Baoshan district on the outskirts of Shanghai. The occasion was the upcoming 80th anniversary of the end of the conflict. As a seventh grade student from a local school reportedly put it: “It is the heroic struggle and fearlessness of sacrifice of the revolutionary predecessors that have brought us our peaceful life now” (正是革命先辈的英勇奋斗和不畏牺牲换得了我们现在和平的生活。我们要努力学习，坚持奋斗，继承革命先辈的优良传统，为祖国建设贡献自己的一份力量) (Shanghai Baoshan District, September 9, 2024). Her comment captures three priorities war memory serves for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) today. First, Chinese people should internalize ideas about struggle on behalf of the nation; second, the CCP is the only historical actor of consequence; and third, the patriotic education campaigns that seek to inculcate these values are aimed at the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) youth.

Read the full article via China Brief.