It has been 80 years since the World War II ended; however, China and Taiwan continue to battle a narrative war over who-did-what during the deadly war. Ahead of Beijing’s 80th Anniversary Parade, this battle of narratives between China and Taiwan has intensified.
Speaking at an event in Taiwan’s Taipei, veteran Pan Cheng-fa recently said that he fought for China against the Japanese in World War Two. When asked about the role of the communists who were in alliance with the Republican government back then, the 99-year-old man said, “We gave them weapons, equipment – we strengthened them.”
The background of China-Taiwan dispute
It all began in 1895. China’s Qinq dynasty was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War and signed the Shimonoseki, ceding sovereignty over Taiwan to Japan. In 1911, a ‘revolution’ took place in China and the Qinq dynasty was overthrown. A year later, the Republic of China was declared.
A civil war erupted in China in 1927 as the Communist Party began an uprising against the Republican government. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, located in northeast China.
It was in 1936 that the Republic of China leader Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by his two generals. This was done to compel him into entering an alliance with Mao Zedong-led communists to suspend the ongoing civil war and to fight against the Japanese.
In 1937, Japan extended its military offensive to the rest of China. However, things did not go well for Japan as in 1943, US President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and China’s Republican leader Chiang signed the Cairo Declaration. This declaration stated that Taiwan will be ‘restored’ to the Republic of China.
With Japan’s defeat in the overall World War II, the second Sino-Japanese War also came to an end. Japan’s defeat happened due to multiple factors, especially, the strategy of attrition employed by Chinese forces, strategic miscalculations and ultimately, the entry of US and other Allied powers into World War II. In 1945, the Potsdam Declaration called for Japan’s unconditional surrender and reaffirmed the Cairo Declaration.
After Japan’s surrender, Taiwan was handed over to the Republic of China; however, in 1946, the Chinese communists and republicans scrapped their truce and resumed the civil war. A year later, the Taiwanese people staged an uprising in against the Republic of China, however, their movement was brutally crushed.
In 1949, Republican leader Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan after Communist leader Mao Zedong won the civil war, established the ‘People’s Republic of China’ and vowed to ‘liberate’ the island of Taiwan.
Why Taiwan remains a disputed territory?
Notably, in 1951, Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty and renounced its claim over Taiwan, however, Taiwan’s sovereignty became an issue that remains unresolved to this day. Since the CCP was not a part of this treaty, it deems it “illegal and invalid”.
In 1952, the Republic of China and Japan signed a Treaty of Peace. This treaty reaffirmed Japan’s renunciation of its claim over Taiwan. Now, the Taiwanese government contends that this agreement confirms that under the previous peace agreement, sovereignty of Taiwan was transferred to the Republic of China (Chinese Republican government) and not to the communists. To this day, both governments, in Beijing and Taipei, do not recognise each other officially.
Chinese Republicans fought against Japan; Communists took the credit: Taiwan accuses CCP of distorting facts to push its narrative
Speaking about the Republican government’s retreat to Taiwan after Mao’s victory, Pan Cheng-fa said, “After Japan was taken down, (the communists’) next target was the Republic of China.”
Interestingly, the CCP government in China continues to propagate how it played the key role in defeating the Japanese. In reality, it was the Chiang Kai-shek-led Republican government that played the central role. it was Chiang who signed the Cairo Declaration, which affirmed China’s claim over Taiwan, and the Potsdam Declaration of 1945, which reaffirmed the Cairo Declaration.
On 15th August, marked as the Japanese surrender anniversary, Taiwan’s top China-policy maker Chiu Chui-cheng said, “During the Republic of China’s war of resistance against Japan, the People’s Republic of China did not even exist, but the Chinese communist regime has in recent years repeatedly distorted the facts, claiming it was the Communist Party who led the war of resistance.”
Chiu further claimed that the Communist Party’s strategy at that time was “70% about strengthening themselves, 20% dealing with republican government and 10% about opposing Japan.”
While both People’s Republic of China and Taiwan celebrate the Japanese surrender day, however, their respective events follow their own narratives. During a defence ministry concert in Taipei, performers dressed as World War Two-era republican soldiers, images of the Flying Tigers – volunteer U.S. pilots who flew for the republican Chinese air force, Reuters reported.
“History affirms that the War of Resistance was led and won by the Republic of China,” the Taiwanese Defence Ministry said.
This, however, did not go well with Chinese Communist Party, which alleged that Taiwan is ‘misrepresenting’ CCP’s role in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Last week, CCP mouthpiece, People’s Daily, lamented that vigilance was needed against efforts to “distort and falsify the Chinese Communist Party’s role as the country’s backbone” in fighting against Japan.
The CCP asserts that the victory against Japan belongs to all, including the Taiwanese. The CCP stresses that the 1945 peace agreement (Japan’s surrender), resulted in the return of Taiwan to China, which was a Japanese colony from 1895.
However, Taiwan states that the peace agreement was signed by the Republic of China and its leader Chiang Kai-shek not CCP or Mao Zedong, in fact, the CCP-run People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949. Meanwhile, CCP argues that it is the successor of the Republican government and that Taiwan is an inseparable part of modern-day China.
While CCP and Taiwan have long been indulged in war of words over their history, this renewed intensity of their narrative war comes at a time when China is flexing its military muscle and threatening indirectly to invade Taiwan. Meanwhile, Taiwan is also repeatedly asserting that it will counter CCP’s aggression. The geopolitical developments and the rhetoric unleashed by both the parties indicate that a military conflict between PRC and Taiwan in the coming times is not unlikely, only this time the US will not side with the CCP but Taiwan.
