President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of August 29 visited the Zuoying naval base in Kaohsiung to attend the opening ceremonies of an exhibition held by the Navy to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the ROC's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan and Taiwan's retrocession. Speaking to the attendees, the president recounted the hardships experienced by the ROC in the War of Resistance, as well as the historical facts about the people of Taiwan in that war, hoping that ROC citizens will value the sacrifices and contributions of the Navy during that period.
Upon arriving at the hall, President Ma watched a film commemorating the Navy's role in the ROC's victory in the War of Resistance. He also listened to the ROC Naval Academy cadets sing military songs, and awarded commemorative medals and certificates of recognition to veterans in attendance who fought in the war. Following that ceremony, the president said he was proud to be together with ROC war veterans and naval personnel for the opening of this special exhibition commemorating historical achievements. This year, the government is holding a series of events between March and November to commemorate and highlight this important period in history. The Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have worked together to invite foreign nationals who assisted the ROC during the war, or their descendants, to visit the ROC. Invitees include descendants of former US presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. In fact, the government has invited more people to come to Taiwan to participate in these commemorative activities than ever before, showing how important the history of the War of Resistance is to the ROC, he said.
The president noted that the last two decades have been the most vibrant period of research into the history of the ROC's War of Resistance, including the 1997 book The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang. The government specially invited Ms. Chang's parents to the ROC on their daughter's behalf to accept the posthumous citation awarded by President Ma. The late American historian Lloyd E. Eastman once said that the Nationalist Government's war effort, fighting for eight long years against enemy forces that were vastly superior in terms of organization, training, and equipment was "a miracle of determination and self-reliance." Meanwhile, in the Prologue to his 2014 book titled Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945, Professor Rana Mitter of Oxford University says that "China's war is also a story of heroic resistance against massive odds, of a regime and a people who managed, despite everything, to pull off victory against the enemy in a 'war of resistance to the end', proving wrong the journalists and diplomats who predicted, over and over again, that China could not possibly survive…. During this time a poor and underdeveloped country held down some 800,000 troops from one of the most highly militarized and technologically advanced societies in the world.… the success of the Allies in fighting on two fronts at once, in Europe and Asia, was posited in significant part on making sure that China stayed in the war." These historians' commentaries, as well as other recently uncovered historical documents about the War of Resistance, will help the outside world understand this period of history, the president said.
Looking back on that eight-year war, the president recounted a litany of hardships. ROC forces, at a distinct disadvantage due to their outdated weapons and equipment, nevertheless engaged the Japanese in a bitter and bloody war that included 22 major battles, over 1,000 large-scale campaigns, and over 38,000 smaller engagements. Over 3.22 million ROC troops, including 268 commanding officers, lost their lives. The most extensive war of resistance against foreign aggression in the history of the Chinese people, the War of Resistance Against Japan also called for the greatest sacrifices, and had the most far-reaching implications.
The president also stated that on August 14, Japan's prime minister delivered an address in which he expressed his apologies and remorse for Japan's actions during World War II. It's clear, the president said, that even though 70 years have passed, there are still quite a few people who are waiting for Japan to apologize for the war. Each year, many people go to France to re-enact the landing on the beaches at Normandy by Allied forces. This shows the wide-ranging impact of war, and that many people even today are unable to forget what took place, said the president.
Discussing the Navy's struggles and sacrifices during the War of Resistance, President Ma noted that the total tonnage of Japanese warships at that time was over 1.1 million, while the ROC's was only 70,000. Recognizing the considerable disparity in naval capabilities, the ROC's strategy was to "scuttle ships to blockade the Yangtze River." That forced the Japanese military to change from a "north to south" to an "east to west" strategy, which made the ROC's "giving up ground to gain time" strategy a success. It also allowed government workers and important resources to be moved west to Chongqing, helping to buy precious time, the president said.
The president mentioned that because the ROC Navy adopted the "scuttling ships to blockade the Yangtze River" strategy, much to their dismay, they had no choice but to sink vessels built at great pains, and remove all of the navigation guidance signs already in place. In the course of the war, he said, quite a few naval officers and sailors perished along with their vessels. One example was Sa Shi-jun (薩師俊), captain of the Zhongshan Warship, who continued to fight until the bitter end despite suffering heavy injuries. The military at that time also built their own mines and used rafts, or even swimmers, to put them in place, which was extremely difficult and dangerous. Although the Chinese Navy had previously suffered heavy losses in the Jiashen (1884) and Jiawu (1894) naval battles, the Battle of Tongjiang (1929), and the war against Japan, the ROC naval forces were determined to complete their mission, never becoming discouraged or giving up. The president then said that these examples all highlight the ROC Navy's sacrifices and devotion during the War of Resistance, so worthy of public admiration and respect.
President Ma stressed that the government has held these commemorative activities, paying the utmost respect to the ROC's heroes and martyrs, hoping that the public will not forget this period of history. Since "without the War of Resistance, there would have been no retrocession of Taiwan to the ROC," the president said, Taiwan's return to the ROC was the result of the ROC's victory in the War of Resistance. He also noted that the war against Japan did not start with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, but rather dates back to the First Sino-Japanese War, and Taiwan residents such as Chiu Feng-chia (丘逢甲) and Wu Tang-hsing (吳湯興) were among the earliest fighters against Japanese aggression back in 1895. The president also explained that after the Japanese landed in Taiwan they faced resistance in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, and Tainan. Quite a few historians believe that under the policy of "kill all, burn all, and loot all" adopted by the Japanese invaders, the number of Taiwanese that died resisting the invasion was higher than the number cited in Japanese official statistics. Therefore, "it isn't that Taiwan didn't resist Japan. Many people did. It's just that some people don't understand or choose not to remember," the president remarked.
The president also said he hopes the public will always remember the Navy's deeds of heroism during the War of Resistance, and be grateful for their sacrifices and devotion to the cause.