Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) leaders yesterday slammed the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for disputing the legitimacy of Taiwan’s retrocession from Japan to the Republic of China (ROC).
The 1943 Cairo Declaration should be considered legally binding, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) said at a rally held by the KMT in Taipei to mark the 72nd Retrocession Day.
The Cairo Declaration refers to the document Allied leaders produced in Cairo in 1943, which states their goals for the post-war order, including restoring Taiwan to the ROC after the end of World War II.
Photo: George Tsong, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Education might have omitted the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Declaration and the Treaty of San Francisco from its curriculum guidelines, but those events are the basis in international law for Taiwan’s retrocession, Lien said.
The ministry’s purported intention to omit them from history is tantamount to self-deception, he added.
The government should show its vision and decisiveness, like the Chinese Communist Party did at its 19th National Congress that ended on Tuesday, he added.
President Tsai In-wen (蔡英文) has not explained her vision or policy to the public, Lien said, adding that the Tsai administration should recover “the key to cross-strait peace.”
“Past KMT governments’ contributions to cross-strait relations should be made clear to the public,” he said.
The ROC’s authority to levy taxes, conscript soldiers and hold popular elections in Taiwan is the result of the Cairo Declaration, which states that Japan stole Taiwan from China, Ma said.
Over the past decade, some have said that the Cairo Declaration is not a valid international treaty, but a treaty is not necessarily named as such, Ma said.
In addition, the Japanese government accepted the Potsdam Declaration when it surrendered to the Allies, Ma said.
Those who dispute the validity of the Cairo Declaration should be dismissed as amateurs, Ma said, naming former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) of the DPP and former minister of education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝), an Academia Sinica historian.
More than 100,000 Taiwanese died fighting the Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895, which comprised about 3 percent of the nation’s population at the time, Ma said.
“To speak of the War of Resistance Against Japan today, one must start with Taiwan to do justice to the martyrs who died here,” Ma said.
KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) called on the public to “imitate the spirit of the martyrs” in building cross-strait peace, stability and prosperity.
“Making the ROC in Taiwan a paradise on Earth is a mission worthy of the spirit of Retrocession Day,” 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
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle