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.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS