The International Academic Forum of “Recognition and Revaluation: China and Independence Movements of Asian Nations during World War II” Held in Beijing

　　December 17-18, 2016, the international forum of “Recognition and Revaluation: China and Independence Movements of Asian Nations during World War II” was held by Institute of World History, CASS in Beijing.

　　One of the hot topics in Chinese and foreign academic circles at present is the history of World War II and the history of China's Anti-Japanese War. However, in the research on the history of World War II, international academic circles paid little attention to China's Anti-Japanese War and the relation between it and World War II, and they also neglected the significance of China's Anti-Japanese War and its important contribution to the World Anti-Fascist War, so this research should be strengthened urgently. The influence and significance of China's Anti-Japanese War on the independence movements of Asian nations is a topic worthy of attention. When Japan waged the War of Aggression against China and the Pacific War invading other Asian countries, vast areas of Asia remained the colonies of imperialism, including Korea colonized by Japan, Indochina colonized by France (Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea), India, Burma, Malaya and Singapore colonized by Britain, and Indonesia colonized by Holland. Japan was under the banner “Yellow People Resist the Aggression of White People”, coining the logic of colonialist war, advocating the “Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere” and waging the “Great East Asian War”. On the contrary, China firmly supported and helped the independence movements of Asian countries, particularly Korea, Vietnam and India, while the overseas Chinese were also the backbone of resisting Japanese aggression of Southeast Asian countries. In short, China’s Anti-Japanese War made great contributions to Anti-Colonialism Movement in Asia and the World, the struggles for national independence by the people of Asia and the world, and the formation of the international united front against Japanese imperialist aggression. There are still some shortcomings in this aspect of research, so it needs to be strengthened and deepened.

　　More than 30 scholars from China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Burma and Australia participated in this International Academic Forum. During the meeting, around the subjects: China’s Anti-Japanese War and the independence movements of Asian nations, the criticism on Japan’s theory of “Greater East Asia War”, Britain-American and independence movements of Asian nations during World War II, the politics and diplomacy of China’s Anti-Japanese War, etc., they made an extensive and in-depth discussion in order to form an academic consensus and promote the continuous development of related researches.