Introduction

September 3 has been designated by the CCP as the “Victory Day of the War of Resistance against Japan.” In the official narrative, it symbolizes China’s status as a “victor of World War II.” Major anniversaries feature parades and diplomatic performances; in ordinary years, there are flower-laying ceremonies, exhibitions, and local commemorations. On the surface, it is a remembrance of victory; yet since the end of the Cold War and the shift in global historical perspectives, it increasingly appears as an illusion: it cannot conceal the Soviet Union’s real identity, nor can it erase China’s own awkward position.

I. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the True Beginning of the War

In August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, secretly agreeing to partition Poland. Weeks later, German and Soviet forces invaded almost simultaneously, igniting World War II. Soon after, the Soviets annexed the Baltic states, eastern Poland, and launched a war against Finland.

During the Cold War, these facts were deliberately suppressed because the West needed to preserve the legitimacy of the Soviet Union as an ally. But once archives were opened, the European Parliament and Eastern European historians made it clear: the Soviet Union, no less than Nazi Germany, was one of the war’s initiators.

II. China as the Axis Remnant

If the Soviet Union was one of the initiators of World War II, then China’s historical position must also be rewritten.

The Nationalist government early on relied on Soviet funds and advisors to remodel its army.

The CCP was even more direct: it was a Soviet-founded espionage organization in China, drawing its ideology and military training entirely from Moscow.

After 1949, China in its system, its territorial framework, and its claims to legitimacy fully replicated the Soviet model. If the Soviet Union belonged to the Axis side, then China was its remnant. The identity of “anti-fascist victor” was never more than a disguise.

III. Japan’s Reappraisal and the Future

Japan’s wartime actions were brutal, but its strategic aims differed from those of the Nazis (the National Socialist Workers’ Party). It sought to build an Asian order free from white colonial dominance. The collapse of Southeast Asia in 1942 allowed colonized peoples to see for the first time that Europeans were not invincible. The independence processes of Indonesia, Burma, and Vietnam accelerated as a result.

Today, when anti-colonialism and racial equality have become international values, Japan’s motives are re-examined—not as mere “fascist expansion.” This is also why Western leaders increasingly avoid attending China’s September 3 commemorations: they understand clearly that Japan can no longer be simply equated with fascism.

More importantly, this shift is not just an academic debate but a geopolitical inevitability. China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and others have converged into a new Axis, positioning themselves against the existing order, even pushing the world toward the brink of a potential Third World War.

In this environment, Japan’s return to being a “normal state” is not a matter of choice but of survival. The unshackling of military power and the pursuit of strategic autonomy are only matters of time.

IV. The Illusion of September 3

The CCP seeks to bind itself to “World War II victory” through September 3. But if the Soviet Union was one of the war’s initiators, then China is no victor. It cannot inherit the victory narrative of World War II, nor did it prevail in the Cold War: the Soviet Union collapsed, the United States triumphed, and China survived only by betraying the Soviets and turning to America. Now, having abandoned even its Cold War-era commitments to the free world, China’s future can only resemble that of a remnant clinging to ruins.

Thus, the September 3 commemoration is no longer a testimony to victory but a reinforcement of illusion. For the domestic audience, it is anesthesia; for the outside world, it is hollow.

Conclusion

History will not obey propaganda forever. Once the Soviet Union is fixed in place as a World War II aggressor, China, as its remnant, will inevitably be dragged into the same shadow.

The clamor of September 3 is, at its core, only an illusion. The migration of historical perspectives will tear away its disguise, sealing the Axis remnants that corrode the mind within the cracks of history, and bringing to a close the unfinished war of World War II that has lingered until today.