Editor's note: Jiao Qingping is a commentator on international affairs. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Recently, Taiwan's film Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale hit the screens in the Chinese mainland, sparking wide public discussion. Based on the Musha Incident, the film recounts the story of Taiwan's indigenous residents who rose up against Japanese invaders in 1930. In this iconic uprising, around 134 Taiwan fighters fell in battle. Beyond this tragedy, Japanese troops also perpetrated atrocities such as the Yunlin Massacre.

The crimes of Japanese militarists in Taiwan went far beyond mere manslaughter – they also committed systematic economic plunder and spiritual enslavement across the island. Enforcing a policy of "Taiwan for Agriculture, Japan for Industry," Japan seized tracts of land to serve its colonial interests, while coercing local farmers to produce and supply rice and sugar for the Japanese market. Fertile land was converted to sugarcane cultivation to maximize profits for Japanese authorities, while the bulk of the rice output was shipped directly to Japan. This led to widespread famine across Taiwan, where horrible scenes of starved corpses became a tragically common sight. Concurrently, Japan engaged in large-scale plunder of local mineral resources, including gold reserves from areas such as Jinguashih.

To erase the ethnic identity of Taiwan people, Japan enforced "Japanization," coercing locals to adopt Japanese surnames, enshrine portraits of the Japanese emperor, and abandon their own cultural roots – an abhorrent campaign of cultural genocide.

More than 650,000 Taiwan compatriots lost their lives during the Japanese occupation due to massacres, resource exploitation, forced labor, and other atrocities, said Jiang Liping, vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League. 

During World War II, Japanese forces further resorted to coercion and inducement to conscript Taiwan residents into paramilitary units such as the Takasago Volunteers. These men were sent to fight as "cannon fodder" in Japan's faltering Pacific War campaigns, condemning innocent Taiwan people to die in foreign lands for the sake of Japanese militarism. In the aftermath of the war, die-hard remnants of Japanese militarism enshrined the remains of these victims in Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine under the false pretext of "loyalty to the Japanese Empire."

In August 2009, Kao Chin Su-mei, a representative of Taiwan's indigenous communities, led a "Return Our Ancestral Spirits" delegation to protest at the Yasukuni Shrine, demanding the removal of Taiwan's indigenous fighters from the shrine's rolls, an end to their enshrinement, and a formal apology and remorse from the Japanese government. They refused to allow their ancestors to be "misrepresented" and stigmatized.

Throughout its aggression against China and other Asian nations, Japanese militarists resorted to historical revisionism and deception, sowing seeds of ethnic conflict and national division. From hiding behind the facade of "harmony among the five ethnic groups" in its puppet state of Manchukuo to hypocritically imposing the "Japanization" on the Ryukyuan people only to abandon and brutally suppress them as the war turned against Japan – these acts fully exposed the sinister nature lurking beneath its veneer of respectability.

In recent years, driven by the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, the blood-stained history of Taiwan's occupation by Japan has been deliberately downplayed. This is not only a desecration of historical truth but also a betrayal of the Taiwan compatriots who sacrificed their lives in the fight against Japanese rule.

Today, the specter of neo-militarism is on the rise in Japan, with right-wing forces growing increasingly assertive. Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made a thinly veiled threat of possible military intervention in the Taiwan Straits, brazenly attempting to meddle in China's core interests. The Taiwan authorities' fawning collusion with Japan is also shameless: they publicly glorify Japan's colonial history, using the euphemism of "end of war" to trivialize the significance of "victory" of WWII and "recovery of Taiwan."

The past is a guide to the future. The humiliating, blood-stained history of Taiwan during the 50 years of Japanese occupation must never be forgotten, and the heinous crimes of Japanese militarists can never be denied. Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits must remain vigilant, resolutely resist neo-militarism, and ensure that China will never again suffer the agony of foreign aggression and national subjugation.

As Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Republic of China, once said: "The trend of the world is mighty; those who follow it will prosper while those who resist it will perish." Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. This is a historical fact. Any attempt by Japan's neo-militarist forces to meddle in Taiwan will be met with a resolute counterattack from China. Those who betray their ancestors will ultimately share the fate of their collaborators and be nailed to the pillar of historical shame.

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