The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday held an event marking the 80th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.
The incident refers to a battle between KMT forces and the Imperial Japanese Army that started on July 7, 1937, which sparked the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was at a hearing at the Taipei District Court in a trial that involves the leaking state secrets, sent a pre-recorded video that was shown at a symposium at National Chengchi University in Taipei.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Ma started the video by thanking KMT chairman-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) for granting his request to hold the event.
The event was attended by Wu, as well as former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) and former KMT chairman Wu Po-hsiung (吳伯雄).
The war “not only caused the most fatalities among the wars fought by the Zhonghua minzu [Chinese ethnic group, 中華民族], but it also had the most profound effect,” Ma said.
The Nationalist government of the Republic of China, led by Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), made an “enormous contribution” to the Allies in their war against fascism, but people nowadays are not familiar with the nation’s contribution, he added.
Ma said the ROC’s contribution is explained in detail in the book Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937-1945, written by Oxford University professor Rana Mitter, which gives accounts of ROC citizens’ and troops’ feats during the Second Sino-Japanese War, which made him feel “sad and proud” at the same time.
Referring to the ROC as “China” and its people as “Chinese,” Ma said that China’s efforts that tied down the Japanese forces helped Taiwan shed its colonial status and become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
“This is an achievement all Chinese should be proud of,” he said.
Ma also talked about Taiwanese resistance against Japanese colonization and how Taiwanese fought “valiantly” against Japan’s “intrusion” that incurred a “brutal retaliation.”
“Commemorating the Marco Polo Bridge Incident is not to incite hatred or elicit antipathy toward Japan. It is to express gratitude for our ancestors who made contributions and sacrificed their lives,” he said.
“Here is to hoping that Chinese and Japanese will reconcile and not repeat history’s mistakes, so they can unite in their efforts to pursue peace and stability,” Ma added.
Wu Den-yih said the war was significant in that it saw Taiwan’s retrocession, and that it removed China’s shame when it was forced to cede Taiwan to Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.
The incident must never be forgotten, Wu Den-yih said, expressing hope that people will remember the discipline, integrity and strength in unity seen during the war and promote the values of democracy and freedom, thereby ensuring peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Following the contentious KMT chairmanship election, Wu Den-yih appeared eager to use the incident’s anniversary as an opportunity to project an image of party unity.
At an event held by the Chong Shing Elites of the Kuomintang last month, Wu Den-yih said the anniversary of the incident should mark “a new beginning for the KMT.”
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