"More work needs to be done on talking about China's wartime contribution," said historian and professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, noting that the best way is to encourage much more historical research.

White doves are released at the end of the commemoration activities marking the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 3, 2015. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

New York - The Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression is an important part of the World Anti-Fascist War, and more efforts are needed to highlight China's contribution during World War II, a distinguished Harvard scholar has said.

One year after the July 7 Incident in 1937 when Japanese troops attacked the Chinese garrison at Lugou Bridge, located in what is now the Fengtai District of Beijing, under the pretext of searching for a missing Japanese soldier, "China's position looked very, very bad," said Rana Mitter, historian and professor of U.S.-Asia relations at the Harvard Kennedy School, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"Overall, most outside observers thought that the chance that China could win was very low," said Mitter, also former director of the University of Oxford China Centre. "And yet China did resist, and the fact that it did, I think, changed everything."

Despite technological disadvantages and harsh conditions, China's persistent resistance helped to bog down Japanese forces, and to force millions of Japanese troops to stay on the mainland, rather than being redeployed elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, said Mitter, author of the book "Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945."

"It's a reminder that China's contribution at that early time to stay in the war was a very important part of what ultimately became a global war," he said.

The expert said that "On Protracted War," a 1938 treatise by Mao Zedong advocating for a protracted people's war to counter Japan's quick-win strategy, remains one of the most influential military strategy works of the 20th century.

"Even today, it's read by students in military academies and history seminars around the world, not just in China. So it's clearly one of the pieces that has lasted in value," said Mitter.

Students visit an exhibition themed "For National Liberation and World Peace" in Beijing, capital of China on July 7, 2025. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

"More work needs to be done on talking about China's wartime contribution," he said, noting that the best way is to encourage much more historical research.

"It is a reminder that war should never be taken lightly, that it should be understood as one of the most devastating phenomena that exists in human existence, and that we should use history to understand how to bring peace in a way that will be lasting, just and appropriate," he said.

As for U.S.-China relations, Mitter said, "What we've seen in recent weeks and months shows that the United States and China are capable of actually having some pretty mature and sensible discussions."

While acknowledging differences in their societies and aspirations, Mitter expressed hope that "remembering some of that shared history -- the history of World War II, when China and the United States did fight together against some very dark forces -- could be part of that wider understanding even today," Mitter said.