Editor's note: July 7 marks the 80th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which triggered the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45) across the country. Three scholars share their views on several related issues with China Daily's Cui Shoufeng. Excerpts follow:

Tang Chongnan, a senior researcher at the Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

A slap in the face of rightist politicians