The Ministry of National Defense yesterday announced a series of commemorative events planned for the coming months to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The ministry is organizing observances, concerts and calendar and book publications, along with “Family Day” programs where selected military bases are to be open to the public.
“This year is the 70th anniversary of our nation’s victory in the war of resistance against Japan and the retrocession of Taiwan to the Republic of China [ROC],” ministry spokesman Major General David Lo (羅紹和) told a press conference.
“These special events are to commemorate the bravery and daunting efforts of our troops and those who sacrificed their lives for the nation,” Lo said.
“We are not looking to revive past enmity between warring nations, but rather to face history in earnest. That way people can learn from history and not repeat the same mistakes again,” Lo said.
“Family Day” programs will be held at two army bases, one naval base and two air force bases nationwide from September to October,” said Major General Yu Tsung-chi (余宗基), head of the Cultural and Psychological Operations Division of the ministry’s Political Warfare Bureau.
These events are designed to promote interactions between military personnel and the public, with weaponry, armored vehicles and other hardware on display, accompanied by soldier training and skill demonstrations, he said.
There will be an academic conference in July, where Taiwanese and foreign military experts and historians will present their research papers on the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, along with discussions on maritime disputes in East Asia and in the South China Sea.
A major war history exhibition, scheduled to run from August to November, is being prepared by the Armed Forces Museum and Academia Historica to showcase wartime documents, souvenirs, artifacts and photographs, Yu said.
The Second Sino-Japanese War was part of World War II, fought between Allied and Axis powers. It involved the Chinese Nationalist Army, later joined by the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army — which later became the People’s Liberation Army — and US military support, fighting against the Imperial Japanese Army.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the war ended when Japanese troops in China formally surrendered on Sept. 9, 1945. However, the US cites an earlier date, when Japan’s official surrender was signed aboard the battleship USS Missouri on Sept. 2, 1945.
SCENARIOS: A potential conflict with Beijing would not be similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China would target energy and food supplies, a researcher said China is likely to continue using economic and cyberoperations against Taiwan to force it to capitulate without resorting to a military attack, Fox News reported yesterday, citing the outcome of a tabletop exercise. Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) earlier this month held a tabletop exercise in Taipei focusing on Beijing’s use of economic and cybercoercion against Taiwan. The FDD mentioned an “anaconda strategy,” in which Beijing would likely use cyberwarfare and disinformation campaigns followed by a blockade or other measures to strangulate Taiwan, rather than attempting an invasion, the report said. A large-scale cyberattack would be
HSINCHU CASES: Five people among 35 who were reported being sick were still in hospital after eating at a vendor in a market in Jhubei, the local health agency said Thirty-five people have sought medical treatment for acute symptoms after allegedly eating banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from a vendor in Jhubei City (竹北), the Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said that since Saturday, it has received several reports of suspected food poisoning from hospitals. The vendor has been ordered to temporarily suspend its business, it said, adding that tests were being conducted to determine whether the people had food poisoning, with results expected in about two weeks. A preliminary investigation showed that the people who sought treatment had recently eaten banh mi at a vendor at a retail market
GOOD MODEL: Speaking at his book launch, Law said that Taiwan is the most democratic Chinese-speaking country, which is why Hong Kongers relocated here China has suffocated Hong Kong’s civil society and its next target could be Taiwan, Nathan Law (羅冠聰), cofounder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong political party Demosisto, said in Taipei yesterday. Law made the remarks at a launch in Taipei for his book When the Wind Blows — the Struggles for Freedom of Hong Kong (時代推著我們前行:羅冠聰的香港備忘錄). Law has been living in the UK since he fled Hong Kong in 2020, and the book is about his fighting for the cause of freedom in the area. He was granted political asylum in 2021. “Fleeing is a long and distressing process, but it also
IMITATING OTHERS? Tsai Ing-wen’s office said the former president rents a commercial unit for her personal office and had never used election funds to purchase real estate Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday confirmed that he used about NT$43 million (US$1.35 million) from his presidential election subsidy to purchase an office unit near the Legislative Yuan in May. Ko made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) earlier in the day told a news conference that she received a tip-off that the TPP chairman had purchased a 48.76 ping (161.2m2) office unit at Jinan Building (濟南大樓), a commercial building in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正). Lin said that Ko purchased the unit on May 10, paying about NT$43 million in cash,