The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is holding a series of events to mark the 75th anniversary of Taiwan’s “retrocession” to highlight the close links between the Republic of China (ROC) and Taiwan, and has nothing to do with Beijing’s “one China” principal, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote yesterday on Facebook.
The ROC government defeated Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, which was why Taiwan was able to return to the ROC and Taiwanese were freed from half a century of repressive Japanese colonial rule, Ma wrote.
Retrocession paved the way for today’s democracy, freedom and prosperity in Taiwan, and commemorating Retrocession Day is a reminder of the close links between the ROC and Taiwan, Ma wrote, adding that it should be a responsibility of all ROC presidents.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
His Facebook post followed criticism by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokeswoman Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳), who accused the KMT of using the day to play along with the Chinese government’s “one China principle” and its events commemorating the day.
Such a remark showed some people’s “ignorance of historical facts” and their “confused national identity,” Ma wrote.
Taiwan became a Japanese colony after China lost the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and ceded the island with the signing of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki.
The KMT has held a series of events, including an online exhibition of historical materials and photographs related to Taiwan’s return to the ROC, and a concert.
Retrocession Day was a public holiday in the ROC from 1946 until the then-DPP government in December 2002 amended the Implementation Regulations on Memorial Days and Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法) to remove its public holiday status.
The KMT has criticized the DPP for not holding a commemorative event this year.
The People’s Republic of China held seminars in Beijing on Thursday to mark the occasion.
Taiwan’s retrocession proved the island “has always been part of China,” Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Yang (汪洋) said.
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