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.
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