Taiwan pushes back after Xi seeks to win over Trump on World War Two narrative
EWT•Taiwan says Beijing is distorting World War Two history after Xi Jinping and Donald Trump highlighted the wartime alliance between China and the United States. Taipei says the Republic of China government fought alongside the Allies, while Beijing credits communist guerrillas as the backbone of the fighting in China.
1. Taipei challenges Beijing’s account
Taiwan is pushing back against what it sees as Beijing’s efforts to rewrite World War Two history after Xi and Trump highlighted the wartime alliance at a summit last week. Taiwan says the Republic of China was the government at the time and fought alongside the Allies; Beijing says communist guerrilla forces were the backbone of the fighting in China.
2. Dispute over the legacy
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council deputy head Shen Yu-chung said Xi is trying to make the People’s Republic of China lead the historical narrative. Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu said Beijing wanted to overwrite the Republic of China’s role. The Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists.
3. Views within Taiwan differ
Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party champions a separate Taiwanese identity, while the opposition Kuomintang said the government was invoking Republic of China history when politically convenient. The island was a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945.
