Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, speaks during a UN General Assembly's special meeting to commemorate all victims of WWII at the UN headquarters in New York on May 5, 2015. A UN General Assembly (GA) special meeting kicked off here on Tuesday to commemorate victims of the Second World War. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)
Delegates of several countries gathered on Tuesday in a UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting to mark the end of WWII, appealing to the world to remember the history of the war.
The WWII is a "dark page" in human history, said Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN, adding that the war has brought untold sufferings to Asia, Europe, Africa, and other places in the world.
"The war was not limited to Europe," said Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN. "There was also a brutal war waged in the East, where there were great losses incurred by China and many other countries and where the war continued through September 1945."
"We cannot forget the battles in Africa either," said Churkin.
Noting the victory of the world anti-fascist war has been won with a big price from the people of the world, Liu stressed that history should not be forgotten.
"All the peace-loving nations formed a world anti-fascist coalition, through painstaking and heroic fighting, won the victory of the anti-fascist war, leaving a far-reaching and profound impact on human civilization and progress," he said.
Liu's remarks were echoed by U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, who said "through countless acts of bravery and sacrifice -- some documented, most that we will never know -- they succeeded in defending and eventually reviving the stature of man and woman."
"But if we are truly to honor their sacrifice, we must do more than memorialize," she said.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the WWII and also the UN's 70th founding anniversary.
Seventy years ago, the war ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan. Some victors of the war have become today's permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely China, Russia, the United States, Britain and France.
In the General Assembly meeting, Harald Braun, permanent representative of Germany to the UN said, "Germany is asking nations for forgiveness since we cannot forgive ourselves."
"It is in the Halls of the United Nations that we Germans today are humbly bowing our heads to pay tribute to the millions of victims of the Second World War," said Braun.
Compared with Braun's sincerity, Motohide Yoshikawa, Japan's Ambassador to the UN simply admitted "our actions brought suffering to the peoples in Asian countries."
"We must not avert our eyes from that," said Yoshikawa.
Japan's lack of sincerity in reflecting its war crimes has provoked dissatisfaction from some countries.
An Myong Hun, deputy permanent representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the UN, said "Japan, an enemy state and a defeated state that had occupied Asian countries during the war and committed unimaginable crimes against humanity, has not yet made recognition, apology and reparations for its crimes in a clearly convincing manner."
"The scourge left by the Second World War in Asia remains unremoved even 70 years after the War," he said.
The UNGA special meeting was proposed in a UNGA resolution, which was adopted by consensus at the 69th session of the 193-member assembly in February, aiming to urge the international community not to forget wartime sacrifices and atrocities.
UNGA President Sam Kutesa said in his remarks to the meeting that the Second World War was a time of "unspeakable atrocities," and to prevent the recurrence of such tragic events, the UN was established to ensure unity and harmony among nations.
"The Second World War showed us the darkest side of humanity," said Britain's Ambassador to the UN Matthew Rycroft. "In this 70th anniversary year of the United Nations, let us never forget the very first line in our UN Charter, our pledge to 'save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.' "
