Pro-independence group Taiwan Nation has once again questioned the R.O.C.''s legal claim over Taiwan. The group was demonstrating outside a seminar held by the KMT on Retrocession Day on Thursday. This Sunday marks the 75th year since Retrocession Day, when Japan surrendered Taiwan to the Allies after World War II.
On Thursday, the KMT’s chairman attended a party-held seminar on Retrocession Day. At the venue’s entrance, he was greeted by protests from Taiwan Nation.
Johnny Chiang
KMT chairman
In pressing for a Taiwan Nation, every utterance and every word they make is directed at destroying the R.O.C. What is the sense in that? Were they sent by the CCP? If you want to stand with the Communists, don’t use Taiwan independence as a pretext. I’ll say it again. If you want Taiwan independence, take your cause to Tsai Ing-wen. If you want to protect the R.O.C., please come to me.
Taiwan Nation said that after the end of World War II, the defeated empire of Japan surrendered Taiwan but did not identify a receiving party. Chiang Kai-shek’s army had provisionally accepted Taiwan on the behalf of the Allied forces. A group spokesman contended that the Cairo Declaration, which required Japan to cede Taiwan to the R.O.C., was an unsigned press communique and was therefore not legally binding. He asked KMT to produce a legal basis for the R.O.C. government on Taiwan.
Johnny Chiang
KMT chairman
The Cairo Declaration states that Taiwan and the Pescadores are to be restored to the R.O.C. Who else could the receiving party be? If Taiwan had not been handed over to the R.O.C., then our current president Tsai Ing-wen – you are the president of the R.O.C., where is your jurisdiction? Is it only Kinmen and Matsu?
Chilly Chen
Taiwan Nation director
If the Tsai Ing-wen administration can produce the evidence, then the Tsai Ing-wen administration can come to me to collect NT$100 million. No problem. The Cairo Declaration is fundamentally false.
Taiwan Nation asked ruling and opposition parties to provide proof of the R.O.C.’s legitimacy on Taiwan. Inside the seminar on Thursday, KMT Chairman Chiang defended his party’s plan to celebrate Retrocession Day this Sunday. Across the strait, the Taiwan Affairs Office has moved to claim Taiwan as a territory, by declaring that it too will hold Retrocession Day activities. As a result, the KMT has come under fire for acting in concert with Beijing.
Johnny Chiang
KMT chairman
The ruling party has begun relentlessly painting us as Communist, saying that we are singing the same tune as China. And now there are protests outside by an independence faction. Sometimes I feel that the situation is so funny. It shows that some people are so afraid of discussing Retrocession Day, of talking about the relationship between the R.O.C. and Taiwan.
Mounting a defense of the R.O.C., Chiang said that the purpose of Thursday’s seminar was to take an unflinching look at the past, to prevent history from being forgotten or downplayed.
