Obviously there were elements of the speech aimed at Japanese revisionism. This does not imply a lasting desire to maintain hostility against Japan; merely a warning that attempts to rewrite history for nationalistic purposes will not be accepted by the rest of the world.

As the Germans have long since recognized, the only reason people wish to deny the established facts of history is that they hope one day to revive the policies that brought about previous catastrophes. The civilized world is determined this will never happen again.

China is also naturally interested in preserving the strategic balance in the East Asian region and the wider world. President Xi made it clear this would require the maintenance of the strength of the People's Liberation Army. His pledge to reduce the size of the PLA by 300,000 soldiers did not signify any reduction in readiness, however.

It is to be interpreted in the light of Deng Xiaoping's fourth modernisation - that of the military. Decades ago, the strength of the PLA lay in sheer numbers. A modern army is different, relying on high quality training and technological capacity. A reduction in numerical strength means an increase in specialization and concentrated strength.

President Xi was adamant, however, that the world has nothing to fear from a strong China, which is strongly committed to world peace. China suffered badly from being the cockpit of struggles, both internal and against foreign powers, from the middle of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th.

When he said "this great triumph re-established China as a major country in the world and won for the Chinese people the respect of all the world's peace-loving peoples," he was speaking an unchallengeable truth.

Now, of course, China has become far stronger. The potential of the Chinese people has now been unleashed, and China now has real power in the world - and, with it, real responsibility.

The last words of the President's speech were "Justice will prevail! Peace will prevail! The people will prevail!" Again, no-one could disagree with these sentiments. But it will not happen automatically.

There are and will always be many challenges to overcome. But, just as China and the rest of the civilized world stood together between 1931 and 1945, let us all stand together now to ensure that these noble aims are fulfilled.

The writer is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/timcollard.htm

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