On the U.S.-China summit in September 2026, each leaders spoke of the truth that america and China had been allies in World Warfare II and had fought collectively. In fact, america and China (the Republic of China) had been certainly Allied nations in WWII and fought collectively towards Japan and others, and if the summit remarks had been supposed merely to reaffirm that historic reality and invoke shared reminiscence, then they need to give rise to no explicit concern.
It’s also price recalling that in 2015, the seventieth anniversary of the top of the battle, U.S.-China relations had been comparatively steady, and China was emphasizing that it had fought alongside america and different main Western powers as key members of the Allied coalition, and had collectively created the postwar order. At the moment, China was utilizing the phrase “New Mannequin of Main-Nation Relations” in its relations with america. If the invocation of wartime partnership on the latest summit was supposed to evoke recollections of that 2015 interval and sign an intention to revive the “New Mannequin of Main-Nation Relations,” that too could be understandable as a matter of Chinese language coverage.
Nevertheless, greater than ten years have now handed since 2015, and China’s narrative on historical past right this moment is completely different from what it as soon as was. So the truth that wartime partnership was raised by each side at this summit is, the truth is, a trigger for concern. To clarify, it’s essential to have a look at how China has not too long ago been using its historic narrative — with explicit consideration to its relationship with Russia.
The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and China’s response to it, along with Russia’s battle in Ukraine starting in 2022, generated widespread worldwide criticism of each international locations. That criticism introduced China and Russia nearer collectively, and the 2 international locations extra overtly positioned themselves in opposition to Western nations. In 2024, the seventy fifth anniversary of the institution of Sino-Russian diplomatic relations and a yr during which the pandemic was nonetheless contemporary in thoughts and the battle in Ukraine was very a lot ongoing, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an official go to to China in Might and issued a joint assertion. It included the next passage:
“China and Russia will proceed to firmly defend the outcomes of the victory of the Second World Warfare and the postwar world order enshrined within the Constitution of the United Nations, and oppose the negation, distortion, and falsification of the historical past of World Warfare II. They plan to solemnly rejoice the eightieth anniversary of the victory of the Chinese language Individuals’s Warfare of Resistance In opposition to Japanese Aggression and the Soviet Union’s Patriotic Warfare in 2025 and collectively promote an accurate view of the historical past of World Warfare II.”
This assertion signaled that China and Russia supposed to collectively insist on what they view because the “right historical past” of WWII to the world, whereas refusing to simply accept any historic perspective that differs from their very own.
In March 2025, at a press convention on the event of China’s Nationwide Individuals’s Congress, State Councilor Wang Yi acknowledged that, marking the eightieth anniversary of victory in WWII, China and Russia had been reaffirming that they’d fought collectively in Asia and Europe at the price of blood, and went on to say that, constructing on this previous, the 2 international locations would collectively promote an accurate understanding of WWII historical past, defend the fruits of that victory, uphold the worldwide system with the United Nations at its core, and advance the worldwide order in a extra simply and affordable course. China and Russia have thus pledged not solely to reaffirm their wartime partnership however to collectively search to form the current worldwide order on that foundation. For China and Russia, historic narrative is inseparable from the shaping of the present worldwide order.
Then, on Might 9, 2025, Russia’s Victory Day commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany, Chinese language President Xi Jinping visited Russia and issued a joint assertion with the Russian president. This assertion explicitly recognized Japanese militarism and Nazi Germany because the adversaries China and Russia fought in WWII, and made clear that China and Russia would collectively resist any strikes to revive the militarism or Nazism of the previous. On Japan particularly, the assertion declared that “the Japanese authorities ought to study classes from the brutal crimes it dedicated in historical past, train warning in its phrases and deeds on historic points such because the Yasukuni Shrine, and fully minimize ties with militarism that after introduced deep disasters to the peoples of the world and Japan itself.”
In its discourse on WWII, China was not solely in search of to unfold what it calls the “right historic perspective” along with Russia, however was additionally issuing sturdy warnings towards “Japanese militarism.” And this was positioned not merely as a matter of the previous however — notably within the context of the Sino-Russian relationship — as one thing linked to joint efforts towards a “simply” reshaping of the worldwide order.
In 2025, China made a qualitative leap in its narrative on historical past, in each substance and in technique. China generated narratives related to the invalidity of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, the Taiwan situation, and the standing of Okinawa — areas immediately linked to China’s pursuits within the First Island Chain. But China’s actions had been shifting quicker than its phrases; its army exercise had already prolonged properly past the First Island Chain, increasing into the Second Island Chain, the Western Pacific, and the South Pacific.
From across the time of Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s remarks in November 2025 and into 2026, China’s verbal assaults on Japan started to make use of the time period “neo-militarism,” and its criticism of Japan turned extra complete. Japan’s safety coverage as an entire started to be characterised and challenged as “neo-militarism.”
In Might 2026, when Putin made one other official go to to China and a Sino-Russian joint assertion was issued, language criticizing Japan’s “neo-militarism” and “remilitarization” was included into the textual content, which represented an enlargement of Sino-Russian historic cooperation on WWII. China additionally sought to increase its criticism of Japan to international locations past Russia, inserting language essential of Japan — equivalent to opposition to “militarism” — into joint statements issued within the context of bilateral relationships with numerous international locations. On the UN Normal Meeting in September 2026 as properly, the Chinese language consultant strongly criticized Japan utilizing phrases equivalent to “remilitarization” and “neo-militarism,” and Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov joined in, expressing settlement with the Chinese language place by equally characterizing Japan as following a path of militarism.
Which brings us to the latest U.S.-China summit, the place Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump raised the topic of the wartime relationship between america and China in WWII. The USA and China had been Allied nations in WWII. However in gentle of the account above, China’s latest discourse on WWII is actually not restricted to mentioning historic details or evoking recollections of the previous. And for Japan, that’s trigger for concern.