The Republic of China’s (ROC) war of resistance against Japan is not over and efforts are still needed to protect the nation from the polarization and havoc caused by pro-independence individuals cultivated by Japan, a retired army general said yesterday.
Former Veterans Affairs Commission chairman Hsu Li-nung (許歷農) made the remarks in a speech at the Taipei launch for a book about the Second Sino-Japanese War, which was published to mark the 70th anniversary of the “ROC’s recovery of Taiwan” on Oct. 25, 1945.
“Following the end of World War II, the ROC government began reconstruction of its revival base of Taiwan, an island strategically located in the Western Pacific and in a sea route vital for Japan’s shipment of daily supplies and strategic materials,” Hsu said.
While the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation mandated that Japan return territories it had stolen from the ROC, including Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands (Penghu) and Manchuria, Tokyo has not been able to reconcile itself to those requirements, he said.
Japan has cultivated a large group of pro-Taiwan independence individuals, including 300,000 Japanese who were not deported from Taiwan following the end of the war and 2 million Taiwanese, Hsu said.
“They have endeavored for years to infiltrate Taiwan’s major political parties, the political arena, the army, judicial organizations and the media in an effort to create social divisions, cause damage and push for independence,” he said.
“I do not think I have to name these pro-independence people since we all know pretty much who they are,” said Hsu, a former director of the army’s Department of General Political Warfare who is now chairman of the pro-unification New Alliance Association.
The war against Japan is far from over, he said, citing the application of the US-Japan Security Treaty to Taiwan and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s effort to revise Japan’s constitution.
“We must make a collective effort to save the ROC and the Zhonghua minzu [Chinese ethnic group, 中華民族],” he added.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who arrived at the book launch after Hsu’s speech, said that while the ROC paid dearly for the eight-year War of Resistance against Japan, its effort succeeded in keeping Japanese troops pinned down and turned the tables on them in the World War II.
“The ROC’s significant efforts in World War II have been internationally recognized. This is a historical fact that cannot be ignored,” he said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
RSS