Disagreeing with Tsai Ing-wen: Allowing the ROC Flag to Fly at Half-Mast for Japanese Shinzo Abe

We oppose the DPP’s Tsai Ing-wen allowing the flag of the Republic of China to fly at half-mast for the Japanese Shinzo Abe without going through formal diplomatic channels.

1. Japan itself had not yet flown the flag at half-mast.

2. Shinzo Abe’s substantive contribution to Taiwan is questioned.

Killing someone is wrong and bad, but to say that Shinzo Abe made any contribution to Taiwan—sorry, not only was there none, he even harmed Taiwan!

In 2020, Abe sent AZ vaccines to Taiwan that had already been suspended or banned in Japan, and Taiwanese were expected to be deeply grateful. I don’t understand the logic behind this. He offered verbal spiritual support, but on one hand, there were no positive substantive actions (who can tell me exactly how many pineapples were sold to Japan?), and on the other, it was all political calculation that actually pushed Taiwan into the line of fire (saying “Taiwan’s business is Japan’s business”—then what exactly has he done substantively for Taiwan?!).

3. Did Shinzo Abe apologize for the Japanese invasion of China?

To say that in October 2010, during President Ma Ying-jeou’s administration, Abe visited the Martyrs’ Shrine and bowed to the spirit tablets of martyrs like General Zhang Lingfu and General Ji Xingwen (who fired the first shot at the Marco Polo Bridge)—that was not an apology!!

The translation of Abe’s original words at the time was: “Anyone who is moved by sacrificing for the defense of the country deserves everyone’s respect.” It had absolutely nothing to do with an apology!!

During his term, how many times did Abe visit the Yasukuni Shrine? How much did he disrespect history? He neither recognized the Nanjing Massacre nor apologized to the comfort women. He intentionally sat in a plane numbered 731 and repeatedly denied Japan’s war crimes, proposing the view that “Japanese war criminals are not criminals,” to the point that I cannot mourn or regret his passing.

Is Shinzo Abe unrelated to the war of invasion?

If he didn’t have the above attitudes, perhaps he could be decoupled from his grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi (I will write another article detailing his family). Kishi—one of the Class-A war criminals of the invasion of China, escaped the Tokyo Trials and an assassination attempt, and later served as the 56th and 57th Prime Minister of Japan. His grandfather’s name is clearly on the list of 261 important Japanese war criminals published by the Republic of China.

Did anyone see Abe shed a single tear for the July 7th Incident? Can a Japanese right-winger really make Taiwanese people feel this much grief?! In Japan, only Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama truly apologized for the war of invasion, even kneeling in prayer before the memorial stone at the Seodaemun Prison History Hall in Seoul, South Korea. As for people like Shinzo Abe, they are no different from the war criminals who started the war.

🇹🇼 Record of Japanese Massacres of Taiwanese during the Colonial Era

As for what the Japanese did to the Taiwanese, let’s look back.

My mentor from the NTU Department of Political Science—Professor Hsu Chieh-lin, mentioned the Japanese massacres of Taiwanese in his work “Unmasking the Japanese ‘Bushido’” (only major historical events are listed):

1. The Great Daxi Massacre (Taoyuan): On July 22, 1895, the Japanese ordered the burning of Daxi’s streets. It burned for 3 consecutive days, destroying over 1,500 homes and killing or injuring 260 Taiwanese.
2. Atrocities against Women in Dalin (Chiayi): On September 2, 1895, the Japanese reached Dalin. The people of Dalin decided to give up resistance, cleared the roads, and provided food to welcome the Japanese army. Unexpectedly, the Japanese demanded 200 women; after being refused, the Japanese raped and killed over 60 women.
3. The Jiali Town Massacre (Tainan): On October 10, 1895, the Japanese landed at Budai Mouth in Chiayi. When they reached Jiali Town in Tainan, nearly 10,000 villagers hid by the river. Because of a baby’s cry, they were discovered, and the Japanese opened fire continuously on the villagers; adults, children, and infants were all killed.
4. The Yunlin Massacre: On June 16, 1896, the Japanese attacked the Yunlin area. The massacre lasted for seven days, burning 4,295 homes and murdering 6,000 people. On July 4, the Hong Kong English newspaper “Daily Press” recorded the facts of the cruel massacre of Taiwanese people by the Japanese army during the Yunlin Massacre from June 16 to June 22, drawing international attention.
5. The Agongdian Massacre: On November 12, 1898, the Japanese launched a large-scale attack on anti-Japanese elements in central and southern Taiwan, which they called the “Great Subjugation.” A total of 2,053 people were killed and 2,783 homes were burned. To clear the fields, the Japanese massacred civilians in places like Alian, Okayama, and Qiaotou in Kaohsiung; this is the famous “Agongdian (Okayama Town, Kaohsiung) Massacre.” Later, foreigners living in Anping (Tainan) and Dagou (Kaohsiung) could no longer stand the Japanese brutality and wrote to the “Hong Kong Daily,” exposing the inhumane massacres by the Japanese, which led to international condemnation.
6. The Yunlin Deceptive Massacre and the Tapani Massacre: On May 25, 1902, the Japanese deceived 265 anti-Japanese elements, saying they would be pardoned if they surrendered. However, during the surrender ceremonies in 6 locations including Zhushan (Nantou) and Douliu (Yunlin), they were mowed down with machine guns. In 1915, the anti-Japanese martyr Yu Qingfang promoted an anti-Japanese movement at Xilai Temple in Yujing (Tapani), Tainan. The Japanese similarly used the lure of surrender to massacre 3,200 residents from over 20 villages near Yujing, killing everyone regardless of age or gender.

Extended Reading

• Secret Japanese Files: During the Japanese Occupation of Taiwan, 400,000 Taiwanese were massacred!! The covered-up history of Taiwan!!
• NHK Japan Reveals: The Disappeared Unit 731! First-time release of evidence of Japanese army’s human experiments!