The Ministry of National Defense is assessing plans to stage a military review, as part of the annual military drill scheduled in October, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese war.
Military sources said that the proposed review is to assert the Republic of China’s (ROC) victory over Japan in the eight-year war — a victory that the People’s Republic of China also claims and is aiming to mark with a series of celebrations.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) has called for the government to stage a grand military parade to claim the ROC’s leadership and achievements in fighting the war and to showcase Taiwan’s military prowess.
Lin recommended that the review be organized in Taipei in July to commemorate the July 7th Incident, generally considered to be the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and that envoys to Taiwan and the international press be invited to the ceremony.
The army has augmented its weaponry since its last parade in front of the Presidential Office Building in 2011, including Apache and Black Hawk helicopters, P-3C marine patrol and the Hsiung Feng IIE surface-to-surface cruise missile system that was developed locally.
Part of the annual drill this year consists of a show of force at Hsinchu County’s Hukou Review Ground, which could be escalated to a military parade without great difficulty.
However, a military review in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei is logistically much more complicated, the army said.
In the meantime, the ministry is still appraising the proposed military review and is organizing this year’s annual Han Kuang exercises, ministry spokesperson Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said.
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