BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- As China prepares to mark the 81st anniversary of its recovery of Taiwan and observe the Taiwan Recovery Day on Oct. 25, the occasion offers an opportunity to revisit a glorious chapter of history, in which people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait jointly resisted foreign aggression, and to draw strength from the past to advance reunification.
China's recovery of Taiwan in 1945 was a hard-won victory in the Chinese people's resistance against Japanese aggression during World War II, and a defining moment in the nation's struggle to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Starting in 1840, China endured a period of immense suffering amid foreign aggression and the decay of feudal rule. Japan's aggression marked some of the darkest chapters in modern Chinese history. Following its war against China in 1894, Japan seized Taiwan and the Penghu Islands in 1895, subjecting Taiwan to five decades of colonial rule.
Faced with both internal turmoil and foreign invasion, the Chinese people valiantly fought against the invaders, ultimately defeating Japanese aggression to safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
On Oct. 25, 1945, after China's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the broader World Anti-Fascist War, Taiwan was recovered. This historic day, forever etched in the history of the Chinese nation, deserves to be remembered by people on both sides of the Strait.
Throughout the struggles against foreign aggression and for national liberation, Taiwan shared the fate of its motherland China. Patriots in Taiwan resisted Japanese colonial rule through political, military and cultural struggles, with more than 650,000 giving their lives during the five decades of Japanese occupation.
Driven by the conviction that "to save Taiwan, one must first save the motherland," over 50,000 people in Taiwan went across the Strait to join the fight against Japanese aggression, risking their lives to defend the dignity and honor of the Chinese nation.
Historical archives and photographs capture the island's jubilant celebrations when China recovered Taiwan in 1945. Families decorated their homes with lanterns, brought out ancestral tablets, and burned incense to share the good news with their forebears. Residents poured spontaneously into streets to cheer, while the sound of firecrackers rang out into the night.
These memories, forged through bloodshed and sacrifice, testify to the deep-rooted bonds between people in Taiwan and their fellow Chinese on the mainland, as well as the shared destiny of people on both sides of the Strait.
China's recovery of Taiwan was an important outcome of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, and provides compelling evidence that the Chinese government resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Taiwan.
The Cairo Declaration, issued in 1943, stipulates that all territories Japan had stolen from China, including Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, shall be restored to China. The Potsdam Proclamation of 1945 reiterates that "the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out."
In September 1945, Japan signed the instrument of surrender, pledging to fulfill the obligations set out in the Potsdam Proclamation. On Oct. 25 that year, the Chinese government announced that it was resuming its exercise of sovereignty over Taiwan. A ceremony to accept Japan's surrender in Taiwan Province of the China war theater of the Allied powers was held in Taipei.
From that point forward, China had recovered Taiwan de jure and de facto through a host of documents with international legal effect. Taiwan's status as an inalienable part of the Chinese territory was thereby reaffirmed, and the question of Taiwan's status was resolved.
However, an unresolved civil war and foreign interference have left the two sides of the Strait in a prolonged state of political confrontation.
The fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have yet to be fully reunified is a scar left by history on the Chinese nation, but the fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory has never changed.
Driven by their political interests and secessionist agenda, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and other secessionist forces have repeatedly claimed that Taiwan's status remains undetermined, distorted historical accounts in textbooks, pursued educational policies that remove Chinese cultural elements, and propagated a separatist narrative in an attempt to sever historical ties across the Strait and mislead younger generations in Taiwan.
Since Lai Ching-te took office in 2024, the DPP authorities have conspicuously avoided mentioning China's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and China's recovery of Taiwan. The DPP authorities have also repeatedly downplayed or whitewashed Japan's colonial rule over Taiwan. Such actions betray the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation.
Achieving national reunification is a responsibility shared by all Chinese people, including people in Taiwan. The establishment of the Taiwan Recovery Day enables people on both sides of the Strait to commemorate this historic moment together.
The Taiwan question originated in a weak and ravaged China, and will be resolved as China achieves national rejuvenation. Commemorating Taiwan's recovery today is an opportunity to draw strength and resolve from the sacrifices of the war and the recovery of lost territory, while reaffirming the determination and confidence to advance national reunification. ■
