Honorable Mr. Sammy Wilson, MP for East Antrim，
Honorable Mr. Chris Hazzard, MP for South Down，
Honorable Dr. Alan Logan, Vice Lord Lieutenant of city and Borough of Belfast,
Honorable City councilors,
Mr. Jason Burke, Historian and Host of the Historical Belfast Podcast
Mr. Brian Finch, ex-Major of the Middlesex Regiment and families,
Mr. Tommy Doherty and Ms.Lynn Kirk,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,

Good evening!

Thank you and welcome to this reception commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Just yesterday, as was shown on the short video a moment ago, China held a grand ceremony to mark this important anniversary, and Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech and inspected the troops in a military parade, to demonstrate China’s memory of grand history, respects to heroes, and determination to defend world peace and justice.

Ladies and gentlemen,

80 years ago, after 14 years of arduous and heroic struggle and paying a heavy price,the Chinese people achieved a great victory in the resistance war against Japanese aggression, standing shoulder to shoulder with all peace-loving people all over the world. 80 years ago, peace-loving nations across the world won a glorious victory in the war against fascism, both in the east and the west. This victory is a triumph of justice over evil, brightness over darkness, progressives over reactionaries, and humanity over barbarianism.

Today, we are gathering here, with the aspiration to remember history, honor fallen heroes, cherish peace, and create a better future.

Dear friends, as we all know, the Second World War is the most devastating conflict so far in human history, resulted in unprecedented human and material losses. It dragged in more than 84 countries and regions, 2 billion people or 80% of the then world total population, and claimed the lives of more than 80 million people, including both military personnel and civilians. Millions were injured, displaced, or traumatized. The war also caused immense destruction of infrastructure, cities, and culture heritage, and the total economic losses exceeded $4 trillion. Even the great city of Belfast here in NI was not free from the fire of war, and was bombed twice by the Germans in the 1941 blitz. 

Dear friends, as most of you have known more about the war theater in Europe, today I would like to share with you on the war in Asia, mainly in the China theater. As the main Eastern battlefield during World War II and a significant part of the World Anti-Fascist War, China served as the mainstay of resistance against Japanese militarism, and the Chinese people made a major contribution to the salvation of human civilization and the defense of world peace with immense sacrifices.

First, China’s resistance war started the earliest, lasted the longest, engaged the most Japanese troops, and entailed the greatest sacrifices. 

Maybe not many friends here know that,China’s resistance war started as early as onSeptember 18 in 1931 when Japan attacked Northeast China, and lasted until to Japan’s unconditional surrender on September 2, 1945. In these 14 years of bloody struggle, More than 35 million Chinese military troops and civilians sacrificed their lives, and the nation suffered $100 billion of direct economic losses and $500 billion of indirect property losses. In the 14 years of war, China engaged and tied down over two-thirds of the Japanese army. Over 1.5 million Japanese troops were eliminated in China, accounting for more than 70% of Japan’s total wartime casualties.

This prolonged and tenacious resistance significantly alleviated the pressure on the European and Pacific fronts and bought crucial time for the overall victory of the anti-fascist war. As former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said in the State of the Union Address in 1942,I quote,“If China had not held out, imagine how many divisions of Japanese troops could have been transferred to other fronts. They could have stormed Australia, taken India etc.”. British wartime PM. Winston Churchill wrote in his book The Second World War, I quote,:” we must note that the collapse of China would free at least 15, perhaps 20, Japanese divisions that could then threaten India and the Middle East” .

The Chinese resistance war, arduous and great, marks China's first complete victory against foreign aggression in modern times. It is not only about China’s national survival, but also a major effort to defend world peace and protect human civilization.

Second, The Chinese people will always remember the immense support, assistance and solidarity provided by all peace-loving nations during China’s resistance and the world anti-fascist war.

We will never forget the brave American Flying Tigers, Canadian doctor Norman Bethune, American journalist Edgar Snow, and many others whose names shine brightly in history.

Though China and the UK fought on different fronts, both nations carried the shared mission of resisting fascist aggression and upholding justice for humanity.

We are honored to have with us today Mr. Tommy Doherty and his remarkable family, Ms. Lynn Kirk. Mr. Tommy is a distinguished Northern Ireland veteran of the Far East Campaign. I also want to mention the late Mr. Aidan MacCarthy, former Medical Doctor of the British Air force. He was from Cork, and his book “a doctor’s war”, tells us his legendary story of his fight against the Japanese and his tough time in POW camps in Southeast Asia and Japan. Two days ago, Dr. Aiden’s two daughters sent me a valuable historical document on the POW’s camp life in Japan. A very valuable and special gift. Thanks to them! Mr. Tommy and the late Dr. Aiden are representatives of the thousands of glorious fighters in the War. We must pay our highest tribute to them and to all the brave soldiers who fought valiantly against Japanese militarism and fascism. 

Dear friends,

The Chinese people will never forgetthat, soldiers from China and UK stood side by side on the Burma front, fighting the Japanese army with blood and bravery, and forged a deep friendship in the fires of war .

The Chinese people will never forget that, a young British reporter for Manchester Guardian, Mr. George Hogg came to China in 1938 to disclose the war crimes of the Japanese troops, and later set up many schools to teach Chinese students, and he ultimately sacrificed his life in northwest China.

The Chinese people will never forget that, Michael Lindsay, whose father was a lordship owner, went to China first to teach economics in 1937 and later helped to train hundreds of radio experts for the Chinese Eighth Route Arm let by the Chinese Communist Party to fight against the Japanese. He also wrote a book titled:North China 1937-1945. Another wonderful book you should read about.

What is particularly worth remembering is the heroic rescue in October 1942, when Chinese fishermen risked enemy fire to rescue 384 British survivors from the sinking ship Lisbon Maru. This story will not be fully discovered without the great effort of Mr. Brian Finch, who is here with us today. Mr. Brian is the organizer of the story in UK and has managed to collect the relevant documents and the details of the survivors’ family. Work well-done, thanks so much, Mr. Brian! With the help of Mr. Brian and many others, this powerful story was compiled into a documentary titled The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru, which wasreleased earlier this year.

Dear friends, Just as King Charles III once said, “Together, they proved that in times of war and in times of peace, the greatest weapons of all are not the arms you bear, but the arms you link”.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Third, As we look back from the heights of history, we must draw deep lessons and firmly safeguard the hard-won peace.

You may have known very well that European countries and peoples, including UK, France, Poland and many others, had endured huge sufferings under the German Nazis, however:

You may not know, when Japanese troops invaded Nanjing, the then Chinese Capital in 1937, over 300,000 unarmed Chinese civilians and POWs were brutally massacred in 6 consecutive weeks by Japanese troops. The whole city became a living hell. Iris Chang, a Chinese American scholar, who wrote the well-known book the Rape of Nanking, fully disclosed the Japanese troops’ horrific atrocity and brutality.

You may not know, Japanese troop Unit 731 conducted horrific chemical and biological wars in Northeast China during the war, and their leftover weapons are still posing a threat to Chinese people today. They even carried out human experimentation by vivisection of human bodies, injecting plague, cholera, typhoid or other contagious germs or viruses to human subjects, and the victims usually were civilians and POWs from China, Korea, Russia, and Southeastern Asian countries, including US and UK POWs from Allied forces. 

You may not know, nearly 400,000 Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Thai women were forced into sexual slavery as so-called“comfort women,” suffering unspeakable abuse, raping, or tortured death.

You may not know, over 10 million Chinese slave labors were forcibly conscripted as miners, and 40 thousands were shipped to labor in Japan, and almost 1 in 4 of them were tortured to death.

These crime lists are endless. 

Yet, you also may not know,  up to now, the Japanese Government has never officially acknowledged these crimes in its history of aggression, and has never paid one dollar of war reparations to the Chinese people and government, although they had looted tons of gold, millions of cultural antiquities, and numerous natural resources.

You also may not know, there are growing trends in Japan to whitewash its wartime aggression, brutal crimes and colonial rule by deliberately covering up its notorious historical past in textbooks generation by generation.

And you also may not know, the tablets of 14 Class-A war criminals sentenced byInternational Military Tribunal for the Far East have been set up in the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo as their national heroes, and some Japanese politicians including its PMs and cabinet Ministers have been repeatedly and publicly worshiping the Yasukuni Shrine and these 14 Class-A war criminals.

Ladies and gentlemen, Dear friends,

Remembering history is not to harbor hatred, yet forgetting history means betrayal, and denying guilt means reoffending. Peace is never a gift from heaven and should never be taken for granted. Only by forever nailing Japanese militarist crimes to the pillar of historical shame can we prevent the tragedy of WWII from happening again. All peace-loving peoples should keep their eyes wide open and on high alert of the possible resurgence of Japanese Militarism, and stop it with firm strength and determination, now and forever.

Dear friends,

Fourth, Looking back from the heights of history, we must firmly safeguard Chinese national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

A few words on Taiwan, because it is another war-related issue. This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the restoration of Taiwan to China. Since ancient times, Taiwan has been an inseparable part of the Chinese territory. In 1895, Japan stole Taiwan through an unequal treaty from China’s Qing Dynasty. 

Following the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War in 1945, the Chinese government recovered Taiwan in accordance with international legal documents such as the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, and Japan’s 1945 Instrument of Surrender.

Taiwan’s restoration to China is a victorious outcome of WWII and a historical fact recognized by the international community.

In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 reaffirmed that there is only one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.

Although due to historical reasons, Taiwan has not yet been fully reunified with the mainland, this does not change the legal and factual reality that Taiwan is part of China.

Taiwan must be reunified, and it will be reunified with the mainland. This reflects the shared will of the entire 1.4 billion Chinese nation, and no person or force can stop it.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Lastly, Looking back from the heights of history, we must uphold international justice and work together to address global challenges.

This year also marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations.  Today’s world is going through profound changes unseen in a century. Wars and conflicts are still going on around the world.  Unilateralism, hegemony, bullying, and coercive practices are severely undermining our world. Again, humankind has come to a crossroad of unity or division, dialogue or confrontation, win-win cooperation or zero-sum games.

Facing such complexity, we must uphold and defend the authority of the UN, firmly safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and steadily promote an equal and orderly multi-polar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.

To counter the headwinds against world peace and stability, Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed to build a community with a shared future for humanity and put forward 4 Initiatives, namely, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative. These proposals, grounded in fairness and justice, blessed with Chinese wisdom and strength, offer the Chinese solution to challenges of global governance.  

Dear friends, China is ready to work hand-in-hand with all peace-loving nations and peoples, including peoples of the UK and Northern Ireland, to stand on the right side of history, uphold multilateralism and international fairness and justice, and strive for a more peaceful and brighter future for all humanity.

Thank you！