Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II.
Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).
Photo: Taipei Times
The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis powers were defeated by the Allies. Taiwan was part of Japan from 1895, following the Treaty of Shimonoseki signed with the Qing Empire, until Japan’s defeat in World War II in 1945.
Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of “the people of the Republic [of China]” experienced in a gesture of “obsequity to Japan” disqualified Lai from being the Republic of China’s (ROC) president, Ma said yesterday.
Ma said he on Thursday urged Lai to stop ignoring the issue of comfort women to placate Japan, but did not anticipate that Lai would distort World War II history by emphasizing the war in Europe at the expense of the war in China, he said.
Photo: CNA
Lai’s “distortion and mutilation of history committed in the service of kowtowing to Japan pains the heart,” Ma said.
“As members of the Zhonghua minzu [中華民族, Chinese ethnic group], we must not allow Japan’s savage invasion of China — which led to numerous deaths among the people of the Republic [of China] — to be erased, distorted, forgotten or downplayed,” he said.
Lai should be reminded of the people who lost their lives resisting Japan during the eight years of war, including Taiwanese who died resisting Japanese colonialism, he added.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday attended an exhibition marking the anniversary of “victory in the war of resistance and Taiwan’s liberation.”
Taiwanese must be grateful for their forebears’ contribution to democracy, peace and prosperity during World War II, Chu said.
“Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and the KMT’s leadership during eight years of war made the liberation of Taiwan and the good times we enjoy today possible,” he said.
The Cairo Declaration in 1943 and Potsdam Declaration in 1945 specified the return of Taiwan proper and Penghu to the ROC, he added.
The KMT’s interpretation of the Cairo Declaration as the legal basis for Taiwan’s “return” to the ROC after World War II has long been challenged by academics, who say the Treaty of San Francisco signed on Sept. 8, 1951, was the only legal document to determine Taiwan’s status.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS