The Republic of China’s (ROC) war of resistance against Japan is not over and efforts are still needed to protect the nation from the polarization and havoc caused by pro-independence individuals cultivated by Japan, a retired army general said yesterday.
Former Veterans Affairs Commission chairman Hsu Li-nung (許歷農) made the remarks in a speech at the Taipei launch for a book about the Second Sino-Japanese War, which was published to mark the 70th anniversary of the “ROC’s recovery of Taiwan” on Oct. 25, 1945.
“Following the end of World War II, the ROC government began reconstruction of its revival base of Taiwan, an island strategically located in the Western Pacific and in a sea route vital for Japan’s shipment of daily supplies and strategic materials,” Hsu said.
While the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation mandated that Japan return territories it had stolen from the ROC, including Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands (Penghu) and Manchuria, Tokyo has not been able to reconcile itself to those requirements, he said.
Japan has cultivated a large group of pro-Taiwan independence individuals, including 300,000 Japanese who were not deported from Taiwan following the end of the war and 2 million Taiwanese, Hsu said.
“They have endeavored for years to infiltrate Taiwan’s major political parties, the political arena, the army, judicial organizations and the media in an effort to create social divisions, cause damage and push for independence,” he said.
“I do not think I have to name these pro-independence people since we all know pretty much who they are,” said Hsu, a former director of the army’s Department of General Political Warfare who is now chairman of the pro-unification New Alliance Association.
The war against Japan is far from over, he said, citing the application of the US-Japan Security Treaty to Taiwan and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s effort to revise Japan’s constitution.
“We must make a collective effort to save the ROC and the Zhonghua minzu [Chinese ethnic group, 中華民族],” he added.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who arrived at the book launch after Hsu’s speech, said that while the ROC paid dearly for the eight-year War of Resistance against Japan, its effort succeeded in keeping Japanese troops pinned down and turned the tables on them in the World War II.
“The ROC’s significant efforts in World War II have been internationally recognized. This is a historical fact that cannot be ignored,” he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS