Symposium held in Taiwan to mark 80th anniversary of victory of war against Japanese aggression

A symposium was held on Saturday in Taipei to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

Wang Yung, chairman of the Reunification Alliance Party in Taiwan, said that this year also marks the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's restoration. Amid the Democratic Progressive Party authorities' push for "de-Sinicization," it is all the more important for Taiwan's younger generation to understand that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits share a common history and for them to carry forward the spirit of opposing colonialism and fascism.

Chou Yung, a scholar who studies the history of Taiwan compatriots' struggle against foreign colonial rule, said that many Taiwan residents fought Japanese invaders on the Chinese mainland, showing their deep affection for the motherland.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, which is an indisputable historical fact, said Wang Wu-lang, secretary-general of Taiwan's Labor Party, adding that Taiwan's restoration to the motherland 80 years ago is an important part of the achievements of the World War II victory and the post-war international order.

In 1895, the Qing Dynasty government, defeated in a war launched by Japan against China, was forced to cede Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan.

On October 25, 1945, the ceremony to accept Japan's surrender in the Taiwan Province of the China war theater of the Allied powers was held in Taipei. From that point on, China recovered Taiwan de jure and de facto.

Some descendants of the Taiwan compatriots who fought against Japanese invaders also attended the event, sharing stories of their forebears' courageous resistance.

More than 50,000 Taiwan residents fought in the war against Japanese aggression on the Chinese mainland between 1937 and 1945.