The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday termed Japan's 1895 to 1945 rule of Taiwan as "colonial and aggressive," stressing that from Taiwan's point of view, the island was indeed "occupied" during that period.
This is the first time the DDP has tried to shed its previous ambiguity about Japan's role in shaping Taiwan's modern history while making a distinction between Taiwan's and China's aspirations.
In a draft report jointly prepared by the party's departments of culture and communications, ethnic affairs and international affairs, the DPP said that half century of Taiwan's history can neither be simply called Japan's "neutral" rule, as some people think, nor be described as having been "ceded by China," as feudalistic Chinese imperialists see it.
"Efforts should be made to write a history of the Taiwanese people resisting Japanese aggression as they sought autonomy. Efforts should also be made to criticize the nature of colonization and suppression that was common in both the post-war [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)] rule of Taiwan and the Japanese occupational regime," it said.
Yang Chang-chen (楊長鎮), director of the DPP's Department of Ethnic Affairs, cited the example of the KMT-run China's war of resistance against Japanese aggression, which started on July 7, 1937 with the "Marco Polo Bridge Incident."
The spirit of "war against aggression" has no borders, Yang said, adding that therefore mainland-born Taiwanese's painful memory of China's war against Japanese invasion and China's civil war between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party should not be dismissed as "their memory."
Rather, he continued, the memory should be regarded as a critical component of Taiwan's spirit of anti-aggression.
The report said the DPP respects and understands why China has since long ago demanded Tokyo apologize for its World War II aggression, but hopes that the two Asian countries will not give up any chance of exchanges that will help promote goodwill and friendship between them.
Based on the same reasoning, the report hopes that China will try to "universalize" the values of anti-colonialism and anti-aggression and seriously reflect on its relations with neighboring tribes and countries -- particularly its relations with East Turkistan and Mongolia.
Only when China can truly honor universal values and think deeply about its relations with surrounding peoples can the rest of the world be convinced that China's rise will not be tainted with expansionism and hegemony, it said.
It pointed out that Taiwan's China-resisting efforts should not be seen as aimed at playing down Japan's colonial aggression and war responsibilities.
The report said Taiwan's efforts to build good relations with Japan based on their common objective of maintaining peace and promoting democratic values should not be interpreted as "anti-China" or "hating China."
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