Rana Mitter on China’s collective memory of WWII

The second World War in China is among the least known chapters of WWII, yet it is crucial in shaping the politics of post-war Asia into the present moment. The way the war is remembered in China has changed over the years and keeps on changing. The recent memorial ceremony on December 13, 2020, remembered the Nanjing Massacre of 1937. It is only the seventh year since a National Memorial Day has been instituted.

How has China’s interpretation of WWII changed? How does it differ from other countries in the region? And what are the implications for contemporary global and domestic politics? To answer these and other questions we are joined by Professor Rana Mitter of Oxford University. In his view today “it is possible to spot aspects of China’s collective sense of WWII in every aspect of public life from movies to social media communities to official museums and plenty of others too.”

The interview was led by MERICS senior analyst John Lee. In the conversation Professor Mitter’s piece in the South China Morning Post and his book “China’s Good War” were mentioned.