As rivalry with Washington heats up, Beijing commemorates ‘victory’ in ‘war to resist US aggression’
Seventy years ago this week, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops began crossing into North Korea, in an intervention that would turn the tide of the conflict on the Korean Peninsula and eventually hold United Nations forces to an uneasy detente.In China, that conflict is known as the “War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea,” and is seen as a great victory, a view shared by Pyongyang, though North Korea failed to make any gains after its initial invasion of the South was rebuffed, and would likely have been defeated but for Beijing’s assistance.Anniversaries of the war have often been used as an opportunity for anti-US rhetoric in China, depending on relations with Washington: 2000 saw a large-scale commemoration, coming after the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, as anti-US feeling was widespread; while in 2010, then President Hu Jintao oversaw a far more muted 60th anniversary, amid better feeling toward Washington.This year, Beijing has pulled out all the stops, as relations with the US plumb new depths amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and increasingly aggressive rhetoric from US President Donald Trump.On Friday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping will attend an event commemorating China’s entry into the war, where he will “deliver an important speech,” according to state news agency Xinhua. The ceremony caps a week of events, and jingoistic saber-rattling in Chinese state media and official propaganda.Speaking earlier this week, Xi said the war was “a victory of justice, a victory of peace and a victory of the people” and should “inspire the Chinese people and the Chinese nation to overcome all difficulties and obstacles, and prevail over all enemies.”close dialog
Get daily analysis on the historic 2020 US election delivered to your inbox.Sign Me UpNo ThanksBy subscribing you agree to our privacy policy.In a lengthy front-page commentary in the People’s Liberation Army Daily, the official newspaper of China’s military, the author hailed the “glorious victory” which “left the Americans with the deepest impression that what Chinese people say counts,” and to respect “China’s red lines.”
