The brutality of imperial Japanese colonization leaves the world with profound memories to this day. Concentration camps in which medical experiments were done on live subjects, the widespread use of comfort women, and the massacre of citizens, of which the most infamous is the Nanjing Massacre of 1937, are part of a series of some of the worst crimes against humanity during modern times.

China fought against this brutality, but they also fought against a fascist vision of the world personified by the Imperial Japanese in which China figured as no better than a vassal state, a colony which was to be exploited simply for Japanese aims. The Imperial government in Tokyo may not have had the terrifying vision that Germany's Hitler did, but they demonstrated in both Korea and Taiwan that they regarded the future as one in which their culture, language and belief systems were to take priority and eventually be imposed, either by consent or, more often than not, by force. This virulent nationalism left little space for differences. Those that stood against the "Japanisation" of their territory and culture were either bullied into submission or, all too often, eradicated.

China's vastness and complexity proved a challenge even for a force as rapacious as that of Imperial Japan. While its armies were able to conquer urban territories in the eastern region, rural areas eluded conquest. Much like Germany and its attempt to bring down Russia, Japanese forces gradually became stretched and their effectiveness eroded. The horrific nature of their governance after conquest further damaged their cause. And as with Germany, their attempts to broaden the theatre of war eastwards by attacking the United States proved their ultimate undoing.

But it was in China that the most extensive fighting against Japan was waged. And it was the Chinese that endured the onslaught of what was initially such an unequal battle, but one in which, after unimaginable sacrifice, they prevailed. Whatever the current geopolitical atmosphere, people throughout the world need to take the opportunity of the 70th anniversary of the ending of the WWII in Asia to appreciate and give thanks for the vast contribution of Chinese to their victory over fascism in 1945. It mattered then, and it continues to matter now. And the world needs to pay its respects.

Kerry Brown is the Director of China Studies Centre and Professor of Chinese Politics, University of Sydney.

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