Why some Chinese academics say it’s time to rethink WWII history – starting with 1939
The ‘Western-centric’ view of events plays down the role of Chinese forces in defeating fascism, one observer says

Chinese academics are calling for the “Western-centric” version of World War II to be rewritten by pushing back the start date nearly a decade and placing Chinese forces firmly on the front line against fascism.
Instead of Germany’s 1939 invasion of Poland marking the beginning of the global conflict, some academics at a second world war history seminar in Beijing on Tuesday said it should be Japan’s 1931 invasion of Manchuria, which escalated into a full-scale war in China in 1937.
“This historical perspective that marks 1939 as World War II’s starting point … diminishes and undermines China’s role in the war,” said Wang Wen, executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University.