First Sino-Japanese War
Japan won and took 200 million taels of silver in reparations
and 36,000 square kilometers of Taiwan (and 142 square kilometers of Penghu)
200 million taels of silver is equivalent to 25 million taels of gold
China’s War of Resistance Against Japan
China did not receive any reparations after its victory
Only the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which China signed, was abolished, and Taiwan and Penghu, which originally belonged to us, were returned
However, 1.4 million Chinese soldiers died in the war
not including the wounded and missing
meaning that for every square kilometer of Taiwan returned, 39 Chinese soldiers died. In addition, 32 million Chinese died. This means that for every square kilometer of Taiwan reclaimed, 889 Chinese people had to sacrifice their lives.
However, the historical truth is unbearable to witness.
Many young Taiwanese at the time supported the Japanese invasion.
The total population of Taiwan was less than 6 million.
When the Japanese recruited volunteers for the invasion, 700,000 young Taiwanese enlisted.
During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and Penghu, hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese were massacred in the early stages. Later, to facilitate the deployment of young Taiwanese to the battlefield during the East Asian war, Japan vigorously promoted imperialization education. In that era, it’s not surprising that people were willing to help Japan invade in order to advance their own careers. Tsai Cheng-yuan’s criticism is excessive.
Young Lee Teng-hui, fearing he wouldn’t be accepted, even pricked his finger and wrote a letter in blood to the Japanese, requesting to serve as a Japanese soldier and participate in the invasion. Lee Teng-hui’s father also donated money to the Japanese to help him secure his service.
Wealthy Taiwanese at the time genuinely contributed to the Japanese army. For example, Chen Hsing-tsun, the grandmother of Renho, donated enough to purchase two Zero fighter planes. These donations were stained with the blood of Chinese people.
More than 200,000 Taiwanese participated in the invasion. Tang Shou-ren, for instance, rose from sergeant to second lieutenant for fighting for the Japanese in China. Others went to China under the guise of agricultural and medical corps to support the Japanese army in killing Chinese people.
This is a cold-blooded historical fact. At that time, Taiwanese were enemies of the Chinese people, or rather, enemies of the Republic of China.
However, after the war, due to the Cairo Declaration and other related regulations… China must repay the Japanese with kindness.
The Republic of China government issued a Nationality Restoration Order, converting the defeated Taiwanese, who were accomplices in the invasion, into citizens of the victorious nation, erasing the blood and tears of the Chinese people, and calling it the Taiwan Restoration.
As mentioned earlier, 700,000 young people brainwashed by Japanization were willing to fight for Japan. Many of them returned to Taiwan after the defeat and, thanks to Chiang Kai-shek’s benevolent rule, regained their citizenship as citizens of the Republic of China. However, some scholars believe that this group was also one of the reasons for the escalating impact of the February 28 Incident. The Truth About 228, Power Struggle, and the Absurdity of the Communist Party
A very paradoxical historical situation is that Taiwanese people who once considered themselves subjects of Japan and viewed the Republic of China as an enemy are now forced to hide under the protection of the Republic of China, pretending they haven’t yet pursued Taiwanese independence.
However, many Taiwanese people secretly want to overthrow the Republic of China, deny Taiwan’s retrocession, actively de-Sinicize, cooperate with the Japanese in calling it the “end of the war,” and even want to erect a “Japanese Emperor Monument” on Yangmingshan, shamelessly claiming “different historical perspectives.”
The editor finds the phrase “different historical perspectives” laughable. Those with different historical perspectives, Japan has been defeated for many years; go back to Japan! The East China Sea hasn’t been covered up; don’t shamelessly linger on this Republic of China land in Taiwan Province.
A bloody and turbulent Chinese War of Resistance has ultimately become a “historical perspective” that obscures the truth. The lessons of history may be very worrying.