Taiwan’s people should spurn China’s events to commemorate the end of World War Two, including a military parade in Beijing, given Chinese “distortion” of history and threats against the island, Taipei’s top China-policy maker said.
China, which views democratic Taiwan as its own territory, has invited Taiwanese veterans who fought against Japan to the parade next month which will be overseen by President Xi Jinping.
“The Chinese Communist regime has repeatedly distorted the facts in recent years, claiming that the war against Japan was led by the Communist Party, and has even fabricated the notion that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China,” Chiu said.
The government urges Taiwan’s people to “unite and jointly defend national sovereignty and dignity” and not take part in China’s war commemorations, like the parade, he added.
People should instead participate in Taiwan’s own events to express their resolve to protect Taiwan and oppose aggression, Chiu said.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China has for its part also accused Taiwan of distorting the history of the war for its own purposes.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page earlier on Friday to mark the anniversary, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said, without directly mentioning China, that aggression only leads to defeat, and as authoritarianism once again gathers strength, it is important that freedom and democracy prevail.
“The most valuable lesson of World War Two is that unity leads to victory, while aggression leads to defeat,” he wrote.
China calls Lai, who rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, a “separatist” and has rebuffed his offers of talks.
Late on Thursday, Taiwan said it had banned government officials and former senior defence, intelligence and diplomatic officials from attending Beijing’s military parade.
