The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance announced on Monday that a lump-sum living subsidy of 5,000 yuan ($790) will be given to veterans who fought in the war against Japanese aggression. The subsidy will be issued before Sept 3, when a military parade will be held in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in the war against fascism.

The subsidy is a reminder that this nation and its people have never forgotten the contribution of those who fought in that miserable war when the nation was in danger of being engulfed by its neighbor Japan, which launched a war of aggression against China in 1931.

What is noteworthy is that those who served in the Kuomintang army during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) are also eligible for the subsidy. This is the rectitude the governing Communist Party of China has demonstrated on the question of history and on the war against Japanese aggression.