President William Lai (賴清德) next week is to mark for the first time in Taiwan the end of World War II in Europe and underscore that aggression must be defeated, sources said.
Since the start of this year, Taiwan has sought to cast the war as a lesson to China in why aggression would end in failure, and take back the narrative from Beijing that it was not the communist forces who took victory.
World War II and the full-scale Japanese invasion of China in 1937 that preceded the start of the conflict in 1939 are a touchy historical subject in China and Taiwan.
Photo: Ben Blanchard, Reuters
The Chinese government at the time was the Republic of China, part of the US and British-led alliance, and its forces did much of the fighting against Japan, putting on hold a bitter civil war with Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) communists, whose military also fought the Japanese.
The Republican government then fled to Taiwan in 1949 after finally being defeated by Mao, and the Republic of China remains the nation’s official name.
Four sources familiar with the matter on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media, said that Lai is to host foreign diplomats and other dignitaries in Taipei on Thursday and give a speech about the 80th anniversary of the war’s end.
This would be the first time that Taiwan formally commemorated the victory of the war in Europe.
By doing so, Lai is expected to call on the nation’s friends to unite in the face of the growing aggression from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, two of the sources said.
“The victory in World War II came from the unity of these nations, and it is important to note that aggression must be defeated. All these peace-loving nations must unite,” the source said.
Lai is likely to remind the world that democracies are now facing the same threats to democracy as 80 years ago, pointing to examples including China’s military aggression, political coercion and disinformation campaigns, the source said.
The Presidential Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked about Taiwan’s interpretation of the war and the events it is planning to mark its end, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the “distortion of history, tampering with facts and spreading of lies and fallacies” had long been a ploy of its ruling party.
“Bringing about the reunification of the motherland and national rejuvenation are the best ways to commemorate the victory in the war,” it said in a statement.
Lai is to speak ahead of the following day’s military parade in Moscow hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin to mark the war’s end, which Russia’s government says Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to attend.
The event is to be held at the Taipei Guest House, the residence of the governor general under Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan, which ended in 1945, the sources said.
A second source familiar with Lai’s event next week said it was also about Taiwan trying to take back the narrative about the war from China.
“Lai has a strong sense of history,” the source said, pointing to previous comments from him, including last year, where he said if China’s claims on Taiwan are about territorial integrity, then it should also take back land from Russia signed over by the last Chinese dynasty in the 19th century.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS