00:00In a week, Beijing will host a military parade marking 80 years since Japan's formal surrender
00:05in World War II and eventual withdrawal from China.
00:08The event is raising concerns in Taiwan, and not just because of the military might of
00:13a threatening neighbor on display.
00:15China claims Taiwan and says it won't rule out using force to take it, but Taiwan sees
00:20itself as sovereign, using the official name the Republic of China, or ROC.
00:26And Taipei is determined to make sure next week's parade doesn't become a tool for eroding
00:30that sovereignty.
00:31We need to maintain the rights of the nation's rights and the rights of the country.
00:47Anyone in government is banned from attending.
00:50As our former national security personnel, and anyone who's held a military rank of major
00:54general or higher.
00:56Taiwanese entertainers active in China are on notice, too.
01:00The government is investigating and punishing 20 of them who've made statements seen as
01:03supportive of Beijing.
01:05Concerns about the parade aren't just about Taiwan's future.
01:08The past is at stake, too.
01:10Beijing is expected to present the victory over Japan as a Communist Party triumph.
01:15But during conflict, most of the fighting was carried out by the ROC's Nationalist Forces,
01:20the same government that later fled to Taiwan.
01:23Most guerrillas did fight in the north, but it was the ROC that bore the brunt of the
01:27war and suffered massive losses.
01:29Some even say Taiwan needs its own events to counter the idea this was a purely Communist victory.
01:34Some even say Taiwan needs its own events to counter the idea this was a purely Communist victory.
01:55It's a war and victory.
01:56It's a war and victory.
01:57It's a war and victory.
01:58It's a war and victory.
01:59It's a war and victory.
02:00So this and the Chinese people, and even today in Taiwan, has a huge deal with it.
02:02It's a big deal.
02:03I see the government and the government, the government, don't express this attitude.
02:04It's a big deal.
02:05Japan has already urged countries not to send representatives to next week's parade, prompting
02:18a protest and calls for the country to cut ties with its militarist past.
02:22And now, for its own reasons, Taiwan too is calling on democratic countries to boycott the
02:28event.
02:29But while the country is doing its best to distance itself from the parade, discussion about what
02:34it's commemorating, and what it means for Taiwan, is lively.
02:37Joseph Wu and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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