China sincerely invites world leaders for WWII commemorations

China will invite leaders from all relevant countries and international organizations to the country for its commemorations for the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Beijing Sunday. [Special coverage]

Asked whether Beijing would invite Japanese leaders to the commemorative events in China, which include a military parade, Wang, a former Chinese envoy to Japan, said China welcomes the participation of "anyone who is sincere about coming."

The foreign minister said it is nothing strange for China, a main anti-Fascist battlefield in the eastern theater, to hold commemorative events including a military parade, like other countries did in similar cases.

"Our goal is to remember history, commemorate the martyrs, cherish peace and look forward to the future," he said.

China was the first country in the world to fight against Fascist forces when Japanese troops began invasion into northeast China on September 18, 1931. A full-scale Japanese invasion began on July 7, 1937.

By the end of World War II, more than 35 million Chinese were killed or wounded during the Japanese aggression.

China never caved, pinning down more than half a million better-armed Japanese troops -- men and material that would otherwise have threatened India or even the United States.

Chinese archives revealed that in the eight years from 1937, allied forces killed and wounded about 1.95 million Japanese soldiers. About 70 percent of these casualties took place in the Chinese battlefield.