Taiwan Reflects on China's Upcoming Military Parade Marking Japan's WWII Defeat

TaiwanPlus News

China is planning a massive military parade marking 80 years since the end of its war with Japan. Taiwan is distancing itself from the parade, but the event is sparking reflection on the country's own role in Japan's defeat during WWII.

Transcript

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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