China is attempting to skew global perceptions of World War II and the government must continue to urge the international community to jointly face the challenge posed by authoritarian states, a source familiar with foreign affairs said on Thursday on condition of anonymity.
President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Thursday commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II emphasized that “the invaders always lose, and victory is assured by standing together,” the source said.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hindered the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) attempts at resisting Japan’s advances during World War II, but is now hosting a series of events telling the international community a different version of history, the source said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
China is framing the anniversary as a commemoration of resisting Japan and fighting fascism, with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) celebrating with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Starting last year, China has been stepping up its efforts to spread the revisionist message that it was one of the victorious nations in World War II and that it should also shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the post-war world order, the source said.
Their rhetoric suggests that challenging China would upset the world order, and that its actions within the region, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are legitimate, they said.
China is also attempting to legitimize its claim over Taiwan by saying that it was returned to China when World War II ended, they added.
This phase of Chinese propaganda is expected to last until the conclusion of the military parade in Beijing on Sept. 3, which marks the commemoration of the country’s victory over Japan, the source said.
The CCP would continue its efforts to get Taiwanese politicians and groups to participate in its anniversary celebrations in an attempt to skew the interpretation of the war’s history in China’s favor, they said.
The central theme of Lai’s speech is that the international community must learn from history and act pre-emptively, the source said.
It is not difficult to imagine that state players are using force to destroy undersea cables, infrastructure or launch cyberattacks to further its geopolitical agenda, nor is it inconceivable that foreign forces would attempt to use information warfare to intervene in the elections of democratic countries, the source said, citing the president’s speech.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a