China Revisits Its War With Japan, Stirring Pride and Fears of Hatred

Asia Pacific|China Revisits Its War With Japan, Stirring Pride and Fears of Hatred

One film, “Dead to Rights,” about Japan’s 1937 invasion of the Chinese city of Nanjing, follows a group of Chinese who smuggle out photographs and help document the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, an event known as the Nanjing Massacre. During an interactive showing in southwestern China, an actor dressed as a soldier shouts at moviegoers, “The Japanese want to destroy our country and exterminate us! Will you let them?”

The audience, shown in a social media video pumping their fists, shouts back, “We will not!”

The films are part of a broader effort to rally the nation as the ruling Communist Party grapples with a sluggish economy, increasingly disillusioned young people, and an escalating rivalry with the United States. The centerpiece is China’s commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the war’s end next month, with a military parade overseen by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and attended by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader.

The parade in Beijing — rehearsals of which have involved more than 40,000 soldiers, civilians and staff — is set to feature the country’s latest fighter jets, missiles and other weapons, in an elaborate display of China’s military might and organizational power.

Government departments are also holding events for surviving veterans and victims, unveiling new memorials dedicated to the war and issuing commemorative coins and stamps. China’s state broadcaster has rolled out multipart specials on everything from military tactics and wartime songs to the role the Soviet Union played. Television channels are playing nearly 100 movies related to the war through the end of the year.