On August 26, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a serious protest with Japan in response to negative remarks made by the Japanese side regarding the upcoming commemorative events and military parade in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of China’s victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The Chinese side demanded clarification. Japan’s actions appear to have been premeditated. Since China first held a parade in 2015 to commemorate its victory in the war, Japan has allocated 56 billion yen in an attempt to construct a so-called “correct image” internationally.

According to annual budget data from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from 2015 to the present, the total budget for projects directly related to “overseas strategic information dissemination” has exceeded 56 billion yen, with the 2025 allocation reaching 6.22 billion yen. By comparison, since Japan’s defeat in World War II, the total compensation it has offered regarding the “comfort women” issue amounts to less than 10 billion yen, and to this day, it has failed to provide sufficient and sincere reparations or apologies to the victims.

The “overseas strategic information dissemination” projects are not ordinary information campaigns; they represent a key budget category newly established by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2015. At the time, China was marking the 70th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, holding the first parade focused on commemorating that victory. According to relevant documents from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this newly created budget category was designed to promote to the international community Japan’s “correct image” regarding territorial integrity, historical awareness, and positive contributions to peace. The budget has been allocated to initiatives such as cultivating “pro-Japan” foreign individuals and revising records of “comfort women” in overseas textbooks. Among the institutions under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Japan Foundation for International Exchange has reportedly funded foreign scholars and media personnel for several consecutive years to disseminate “pro-Japan” content.

Now, on the 80th anniversary of China’s victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, Japan continues these practices. We ask three questions: Will Japan face its history with honesty and integrity? Will Japan genuinely learn from the lessons of history? Is Japan truly committed to peaceful development?

Editor: Zhiyu Wang