Africa Focus: Nigerian analyst lauds China's WWII victory parade

China's victory parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the East Asian nation's triumph against fascist aggression during the Second World War (WWII) was evidently an impressive display, an international affairs analyst in Nigeria said Thursday.

"I think it demonstrates the new spirit of China: the spirit of inclusion," Charles Onanaiju, an expert in international relations, said in an interview with Xinhua.

The event held on Thursday in Beijing was attended by heads of state and foreign troops from 17 countries.

To all those who laid down their lives during the war and other people who reckon with peace rather than conflict across the globe, the parade was superlative in nature and highly befitting enough to honor them, the analyst declared.

"For most Nigerians, it was great too see China make a very grand presentation at this occasion of the 70th anniversary of the defeat of fascism and which is her very first in commemorating this. I can assure you that Nigeria shares a very good sentiment about this development," he said.

He added: "The fact remains that what we saw today (Thursday) in Tiananmen Square was a demonstration that we can live together. To remember those dark days 70 years ago. And China is saying there will never be such moment again: we have sufficient military strength to deter it and we can also work very hard to bring an inclusive world of shared prosperity. That is the message that was being sent out in Tiananmen Square."

Going down memory lane, Onanaiju, also an author and researcher of works in international relations, noted China's role in the second world war was not just a major one, but a role pivotal in the defeat of fascism.

If Japan had managed to subjugate and overrun China, the outcome of the war would have been different, he opined, noting the latter, more than any other country in the world, fought the longest war in the anti-fascists struggle.

"The outcome of the second world war would have meant, if China did not resist and Japan had freely overrun and incorporated it to its own empire, it means that African freedom would have been much-delayed longer than it came," the analyst said.

According to him, the defeat of fascism and resistance of the Chinese people had paved the way for the completion of the anti-colonial struggle that eventually brought liberation to most of Africa.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced, in the spirit of the celebrations, that the country will cut troops by 300,000. Onanaiju said the announcement was a welcome development as well as a laudable and reassuring decision.

"With that statement, China is saying, look, warfare has been redefined very clearly. Several years ago you need so much troops but now peace must reign the world over," he said.

In deeds and words, the expert said, China has demonstrated that it is committed to a peaceful rise, perhaps the only time in history, without war, without appropriating any other power, without looking for someone to subjugate or dominate.

"This is a very distinct period in world history. In the direction it is going, it is very clear that China would prefer a world of shared prosperity," he said. Endit