China is expected to launch a series of “united front” activites against Taiwan that would peak in the second half of the year, a national security official said yesterday.
Starting this month, China would use the “three 80th anniversaries” — the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (as China refers to the Second Sino-Japanese War), the UN’s 80th anniversary and the 80th anniversary of the retrocession of Taiwan — to launch its international warfare, they said.
China would distort history and claim that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the official said, adding that it would use cross-strait lawfare extensively in the second half of the year to position itself, and invite prominent Taiwanese figures to back up its claims.
Photo: Reuters
The peak period of China’s “united front” work is about to begin, they said.
Although the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had hardly contributed to the Second Sino-Japanese War, was ambiguous against authoritarianism and had nothing to do with the retrocession of Taiwan, China would use the three anniversaries to claim that China established the international order after World War II, they said.
China would say that it determined that Taiwan belongs to China during the war against Japan, that “Taiwan is part of the PRC” is the international order and continue to misinterpret UN Resolution 2758, they added.
The united front work would continue until October, the official said.
Before Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) visited Moscow on May 9, he submitted an opinion piece to a Russian newspaper, in which he said that “this year is the 80th anniversary of the retrocession of Taiwan” and that the nation’s return to China was a result of its victory in World War II and an important part of the post-war international order, the official said.
During the opening ceremony of the Straits Forum last month, CCP Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧) said that this year marks the 80th anniversaries of winning the war against Japan, victory in the anti-fascist war and Taiwan’s retrocession, the official said.
Wang also said they are a witness to “compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait defending the dignity of the Zhonghua minzu (中華民族, Chinese ethnic group) together and protecting our shared homeland,” they added.
On June 10, the China Review Think Tank Foundation and the Cross-Strait Relations Research Center at Renmin University of China cohosted an event focused on “the three 80th anniversaries and the Taiwan issue,” using the anniversaries to claim that the post-war international order has confirmed that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, the official said.
State-controlled media in Hong Kong and Macau also published commentaries to reinforce Beijing’s claims, such as the China Review News Agency saying that historical justice must be remembered and that the legal basis of Taiwan’s retrocession must be defended, they said.
It also mentioned that the “three 80th anniversaries” underlined that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, and that the “legal basis” is rooted in the post-war international order and the result of World War II, they added.
The State Council of China has already announced its plans for “the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,” the official said.
The plans include a grand military parade, a major speech by Xi on Sept. 3, a symposium with people from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other countries, and an international academic conference, they said.
It also includes a conference for the 80th anniversary of “Taiwan’s retrocession” on Oct. 25 and a national memorial ceremony for the victims of the Nanjing massacre on Dec. 13, they added.
The real “liberation” should come from the people truly enjoying democracy and freedom, and the real “retrocession” should be that sovereignty resides in the people and that the regime can be changed through their will, the official said.
The Chinese government should not spend so much effort in distorting history, but instead divert that effort in the right direction, they added.
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