As history's arc unfolds, peace still paramount

The 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War comes at a moment when memory can guide policy toward a peaceful global order.

The memory of the war years — the Sept 18 Incident in 1931, the Nanjing Massacre from December 1937 to February 1938, and the vast devastation that followed — offers a steadfast reminder that sovereignty, human life and dignity must be safeguarded through law, dialogue and collective security, not coercion, reckless escalation or naked aggression.

China's wartime mobilization demonstrated how a determined society could sustain a hard and long struggle while maintaining social cohesion, mobilizing conventional forces and grassroots resistance to defend sovereignty.

The arc of history, forged through shared sacrifice, underscores the importance of a shared responsibility to uphold international norms and safeguard hard-earned peace on the way to prosperity.

In today's regional landscape, Taiwan sits at the heart of cross-Strait stability, and, inadvertently, at the core of outside attention in an era of strategic competition and rapid technological change.

While any durable resolution must be grounded in the one-China framework, the United States and some other countries have not only raised voices inappropriate with their agreements with Beijing, but also have conducted regional security activities covertly targeting the Chinese mainland. Even warships of Australia and Canada have sometimes been seen along the Taiwan Strait.

Instead of constantly exercising means of war in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, some Western countries and their allies should play a vital role in promoting a peaceful process by supporting confidence-building measures, crisis communication channels, and mechanisms for verification that reduce misinterpretation and miscalculation.

The US, with its extensive alliances in the Asia-Pacific, must balance usual deterrence with restraint: It must ensure that its military presence reinforces crisis management rather than coercive signaling, and must pursue direct diplomacy with Beijing that expands channels for dialogue on sensitive issues.

The Philippines, as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, should continue strengthening practical cooperation with neighbors and contributing to a stable security environment that underpins development and humanitarian efforts. Japan's regional posture should align with explicit legal norms, crisis-avoidance strategies, and confidence-building measures that can somewhat compensate for its atrocities inflicted on neighbors over 80 years ago.

Against this backdrop, China has positioned itself as a constructive force for peace and a steadfast proponent of a United Nations-based international order. China's leadership emphasizes peaceful development and a responsible rise, arguing that great power status carries responsibilities that extend beyond national borders.

China's contributions to UN peacekeeping, climate resilience, public health, disaster relief and regional stability reflect a commitment to shared global public goods. This perspective holds that peace is not a passive state but rather a disciplined practice — achieved through verifiable obligations and ongoing dialogue with regional partners and global institutions.

The path forward rests on tangible steps that translate memory into action. Confidence-building measures by countries across the region should be expanded, including transparent signaling of intent, hotlines for crisis management, and routine military-to-military dialogues at multiple levels.

Multilateral forums must become the primary venues for resolving disputes, coordinating responses to nontraditional security threats, and advancing climate resilience, public health and mutual development.

The global community should recognize China's constructive contributions to international security and development, both 80 years ago and nowadays, while encouraging continued openness to reform in development and governance. In this framework, peace is the ultimate victory: It protects lives, sustains economies, enables nations to pursue innovation and prosperity, and advances humanity without fear of coercion or war.

As the 80th anniversary candle lights the path toward the next era, the overarching lesson remains clear: Power must be exercised with responsibility, and peace must be the shared achievement of a global community that respects sovereignty, human life and dignity. The memory of 1945 offers a guiding light for today's choices: Uphold memory with honesty, pursue diplomacy with candor, and translate historical lessons into concrete, verifiable deeds.

If global leadership can fuse courage with restraint and align strategic competition with constructive cooperation, the region — and the world — can move toward a future in which security, development and peace are not mutually exclusive, but rather mutually reinforcing. This is the enduring promise of the 80th anniversary: that a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific region is achievable when nations choose dialogue over discord, cooperation over confrontation, and a rules-based order over the illusion of dominance.

The author is president of the China Bangladesh Friendship Center-CBFC, Hong Kong, and president of the Asian Club Limited, Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.