By Chen Xiang
On October 24, 1943, on the beach of Aitape in northern New Guinea, Australian soldier Leonard George knelt in the sand, blindfolded and bound, awaiting execution by Japanese military officer Yasuno Chikao. Behind him stood Japanese guards and a crowd of local villagers compelled to witness the scene.
This photograph of that moment, later discovered by American forces and published in Australia, stunned the Australian public. It exposed the brutal reality of Japanese atrocities during World War II: there was no pretense of humane treatment for prisoners of war; instead, captured Australian soldiers across the Southeast Asian battlefield were subjected to forced labor under punishing conditions, and those deemed too old, ill or weak were executed without hesitation.
Leonard George’s unyielding stance in the photograph became a symbol of defiance, galvanizing patriotic sentiment across Australia. It inspired Australian and American troops to mount a decisive counteroffensive against more than 100,000 Japanese troops in New Guinea, eventually thwarting Japan’s ambition to use the island as a springboard for invading Australia.
Australia’s struggle against Japan was not only a fight for national survival but also a contribution to the global effort to defeat fascism. While Japan pursued its “northward and southward expansion strategies,” the bulk of its ground forces were bogged down in the Chinese battlefield, leaving its naval and air forces to spearhead the “southward advance.”
Following the fall of Southeast Asia, Japan turned its sights on resource-rich and strategically positioned Australia. On the Malay Peninsula, 130,000 British and Australian troops were forced to surrender, and over 8,000 of the 15,000 Australian captives perished under brutal mistreatment. In February 1942, Japanese bombers struck Darwin, inflicting severe civilian casualties. In 1943, Japan launched an assault on New Guinea, defended by Australian troops, in a bid to sever supply lines between the United States and Australia and pave the way for conquest.
These acts of aggression provoked outrage among the Australian people. From a population of barely 7 million, more than one in seven Australians joined the fight. Their determination reflected both national resolve and the global urgency of resisting fascist aggression.
The conflict between Japanese militarism and Western countries also shaped the course of war. Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan’s growing economic and military strength fueled a doctrine of expansion, cloaked in Pan-Asianist rhetoric that justified aggression against China and other Asian countries, and propelled the nation down the path of militarist expansion to dominate the Pacific Rim.
Japan firmly opposed the U.S. Open Door Policy, and under the sway of extreme nationalism and militarist indoctrination, its soldiers became fervent agents of aggression. Placing Japan’s interests above all others, they targeted not only Asian countries but also Western powers. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor epitomized its drive to achieve supremacy in the Pacific.
The joint resistance of China and Australia against Japanese aggression highlighted the historic significance of the international anti-fascist united front. In December 1941, Japan launched the Pacific War, occupying Southeast Asia within six months. With the establishment of the international anti-fascist united front, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and others placed greater importance on China’s role as the main theater in the East.
In the early stages of the Pacific War, as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia suffered repeated setbacks, China’s prolonged resistance tied down the majority of Japanese ground forces and a considerable portion of its naval strength, limiting Japan’s ability to expand southward.
In the summer of 1942, Japan’s high command sought to seize Port Moresby to cut off U.S.-Australia strategic communications. The campaign collapsed, hampered by overstretched forces still entangled in China and severe logistical constraints. The failure marked the Allies’ first land victory in the Pacific War. By 1943, after setbacks at Midway and Guadalcanal, Japan urgently needed reinforcements, but its main forces remained mired in China, which greatly eased the island-hopping campaigns of the U.S., British, and Australian forces.
At the same time, Australia’s resistance against Japan made an important contribution to the global fight against fascism, providing crucial strategic support to both the Chinese battlefield and the Southeast Asian front. During the Pacific War, nearly 1 million Australians served across Southeast Asia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia. Their sacrifices weakened Japan’s strength, halted its advance, and provided crucial military and logistical support to the Allied forces.
Eighty years on, the joint resistance of the Chinese and Australian peoples remains a powerful reminder of the importance of international solidarity against aggression. The sacrifices made in the struggle for independence and justice underscore the importance of preserving historical truth. Attempts by Japanese revisionists to recast aggressors as “victims,” glorify aggression, or deny atrocities must be firmly rejected. The lessons of the war remind us that maintaining the current international order and safeguarding world peace are shared responsibilities of all humanity to prevent the recurrence of past tragedies.
(Chen Xiang is a special research fellow at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.)
