President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) marked Armed Forces Day yesterday with a visit to the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine to pay his respects to the nation’s war dead, including Republic of China (ROC) soldiers who fell while fighting in Burma during World War II.
The president, accompanied by senior administration officials, laid a wreath at a memorial tablet in honor of those who died in the line of duty.
It was the first time that an ROC president has paid homage to the tens of thousands who died fighting alongside Allied forces against Japan in Burma. Those soldiers were memorialized at the Martyrs’ Shrine last week in a ceremony that represented bringing their spirits “home” from Myanmar.
Photo: CNA
During the ceremony, Ma and other attendees watched an 18-minute video about the “welcome home” process.
After the ceremony, the president shook hands with some of the soldiers’ descendants, including the sons of General Sun Li-jen (孫立人) and Colonel Liu Fang-wu (劉放吾), who was promoted to major general before the war ended.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Ma Wei-kuo (馬瑋國) said afterward that it was the president who asked for the video to be played to highlight the sacrifice made by the armed forces and their contributions to the nation, including in a fight against warlords in early republican China, the war against Japan and the defense of Taiwan against communist forces.
About 300,000 ROC servicemen were sent to Burma during World War II, where they played an important role in deterring westward expansion into India by Japanese forces by laying the basis for a counterattack by the Allies.
Among the major battles won by the ROC Expeditionary Force was the victory at Yenangyaung, in central Burma, on April 17, 1942.
In that battle, a contingent of ROC soldiers, led by Sun and Liu, attacked Japanese troops that had entrapped more than 7,000 British soldiers at an oilfield and forced them into retreat.
More than 100,000 ROC servicemen gave their lives between 1942 and 1944 fighting in the former British colony.
Though the deceased likely never set foot on Taiwan in their lifetimes, their contributions to the fight against Japan helped ensure the continuation of the ROC, which today governs Taiwan and its outlying islands.
Last month, Taipei sent a delegation of officials from the foreign affairs and national defense ministries to Myitkyina, the main Burmese battlefield at the time, to bring back the wandering spirits of ROC soldiers via religious rites. They were enshrined in the Martyrs’ Shrine in Taipei on Wednesday last week.
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