Chinese State Media Criticizes Elementary Students' Participation in Vladivostok Children's Military Parade: 'Selling Out National Dignity'

(Central News Agency reporter Liao Wenqi, Shanghai, 7th) The participation of Chinese elementary school students in a children's military parade in Vladivostok, Russia, recently sparked controversy. On the 6th, the WeChat official account 'People's Daily Ping An Campus,' affiliated with China's state media People's Daily, published an article criticizing that even if diplomacy is pragmatic, 'national dignity and historical memory cannot be sold out together.'

Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok held a children's military parade on the 3rd to commemorate the 81st anniversary of victory in World War II, with participants including first-grade elementary students from China. After the news broke, it caused criticism among many Chinese netizens, and related reports and comments were almost all deleted.

The WeChat official account 'People's Daily Ping An Campus,' affiliated with China's state media People's Daily, published an article on the 6th titled 'On the streets of Vladivostok, who exactly are Chinese children cheering for?'

The article pointed out that Vladivostok is a humiliating memory of Chinese territory forcibly occupied by Tsarist Russia in the mid-19th century through unequal treaties, and a bloody old account of former Chinese residents on this land being expelled, massacred, and cleared.

The article emphasized, 'History can turn a new page, but the perpetrators should at least have the most basic acknowledgment and remorse, instead of using the stolen land as a stage for their victory celebrations, and letting Chinese children run to wave flags and cheer for them.'

The article also pointed out that this scene inevitably reminds people of the scenes in Japanese-occupied areas in the 1940s, where people participated in 'Sino-Japanese co-prosperity' parades under the bayonets of the Japanese army. Now, no one is holding a gun to their heads, yet they actively bring their first-grade children to the land stolen from their ancestors, lining up, waving flags, shouting slogans, and serving as a backdrop for others. This initiative is unbearable to watch.

The article stated, 'Diplomacy needs to be pragmatic, and international exchanges are also encouraged, but no matter how pragmatic, national dignity and historical memory cannot be sold out together.' Directly putting children into others' victory narratives, and specifically choosing such a sensitive location, has far exceeded the scope of 'friendly activities.'

The article indicated that there could be more appropriate ways—visiting, understanding, dialogue—instead of directly joining others' ranks to wave flags and cheer. Such blatant and shameless performance is quantitatively more serious than some individuals secretly visiting a certain shrine.

The article finally questioned, 'On the streets of Vladivostok, what kind of posture should our children take?'

The article has since been deleted from the 'People's Daily Ping An Campus' WeChat official account, but many reposts and discussions continue on WeChat. Many authors who had previously written related articles that were deleted, or even criticized for 'disregarding the overall situation,' highly praised this article and pointed out that being friendly with Russia does not mean tolerating things that 'hurt the feelings of the Chinese people' done by Russians.

According to the People's Daily official website, 'Ping An Campus' magazine is supervised by the People's Daily and hosted by 'New Safety' magazine. Founded in 2009, it is currently the only professional journal in China focusing on campus safety for primary, middle, and high schools. (Editor: Zhou Huiying) 1150507

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