Taiwan scholars mark 80th anniversary of victory in war against Japanese aggression
Japanese Soldiers Entering Taipei City in 1895 after the Treaty of Shimonoseki between Qing and Japan. - Wikipedia
TAIPEI: A symposium commemorating the 80th anniversary of both victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Taiwan's recovery was held in Taipei on Saturday (June 7), calling for historical truth to be restored as the narrative of "Taiwan independence" is being pushed by Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities.
Chi Chia-lin, president of Homeland Publishing and chief of a Taiwan history research association, emphasised that the war of 1895 against Japanese occupation and the subsequent waves of armed resistance were patriotic struggles launched by the people of Taiwan as part of the Chinese nation.
He criticised the DPP authorities for deliberately distorting history over recent years, not only by glorifying Japan's colonial rule but also by attempting to misrepresent the battle of 1895 as a movement for "Taiwan independence."
The 1895 battle was a six-month resistance struggle that broke out on the island after the Qing government ceded Taiwan to Japan under the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki in April 1895, following its defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War.
Chi explained that at that time, locals and soldiers from the Hunan, Anhui and Guangdong provinces who remained in Taiwan fought side by side to resist the Japanese. Due to overwhelming disparities in weaponry and equipment, more than 14,000 people were killed over the course of four-and-a-half months.
Pien Feng-kwei, a professor with the Taiwan Ocean University, said that during the 50 years of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan, the island's people continued their resistance unbroken and in various forms.
However, he noted, "Taiwan independence" forces have deliberately ignored or even distorted Taiwan's history of anti-Japanese resistance and anti-colonial struggle.
"Remembering history is meant to help us cherish peace. I hope the Taiwan authorities will face history squarely and draw lessons from it," he said.
The strong national consciousness became the foundation of Taiwan's anti-Japanese resistance, and the sacrifices of heroes during the struggle are a lasting testament to the indomitable spirit of the Chinese nation, said professor Sun Juo-yi of Taiwan's Chung Hsing University.
Chi also called for the development of an accurate historical narrative of Taiwan to awaken the society's true memory. - Xinhua
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'Third countries will likely push their own agenda and adopt a multipronged approach. Companies from China will continue to expand overseas to curb related risks, so neighbouring countries shall benefit from the current instability,' Vettoretti said. In terms of dealing with China, Trump's urgency depends on whether he realises he misplayed his hand – or was misled, said Victor Gao, vice-president of the Centre for China and Globalisation, a Beijing-based think tank, as a prolonged deadlock risks backlash from consumers and US firms long reliant on profitable China ties. 'China is positioned to handle the headwinds. The US is not so well-positioned,' Gao said. 'China is willing to wind down its positions to zero.' So far, Trump has claimed that Chinese imports into the US receive a sum of '55 per cent' tariffs. Gavekel's Kroeber said a deal on fentanyl would be low-hanging fruit, but Trump's trade negotiators may be reluctant to surrender much of their tariff leverage for a side-agreement on drugs. If Trump truly wants a deal, Kroeber added, he could easily ease chip-export controls via the Bureau of Industry and Security, a single-agency decision. But flashy wins like Chinese factories creating US jobs are more politically rewarding – and require complex reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, which includes nine departments, including Defence and Homeland Security. Either path demands Trump break from years of national-security orthodoxy, and Trump 'is still far from making that move', Kroeber said. Dan Murphy, executive director at the Mossavar-Rahmani Centre for Business and Government of Harvard Kennedy School, said last week during the Caixin Summer Summit in Hong Kong that the US and China might be missing or not factoring in potential risks and complications while failing to grasp the big picture. 'My concern, and I think it is going to be a core concern that extends to the economy of China and Asia, is that China and the United States are looking [at each other] from farther away, and we are seeing a less nuanced and less complicated picture, and this can lead to miscalculations.' - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
