Retrocession Day

Retrocession Day
Celebrating Taiwan's retrocession at Taipei City Hall following Japan's defeat in WW2
Observed by	Republic of China
Type	Historical, cultural, nationalist
Date	October 25

Retrocession Day (Chinese: 光復節; pinyin: guāngfùjié) is an annual observance in the Republic of China (Taiwan) to commemorate the end of 50 years of Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan on October 25, 1945.

Background

Taiwan, then more commonly known to the Western world as Formosa, became a colony of the Empire of Japan when Qing China lost the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and ceded the island with the signing of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki. Japanese rule in Taiwan lasted until the end of World War II.

In November 1943, Chiang Kai-Shek took part in the Cairo Conference with American, British, and Chinese leaders, who firmly advocated that Japan be required to return all of the territory it had annexed into its empire, including Taiwan and Penghu. Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation, drafted by the USA, United Kingdom, USSR, and China in July 1945, reiterated that the provisions of the Cairo Declaration be thoroughly carried out.

Under the authorization of Douglas MacArthur's General Order No. 1^[1], Chen Yi was escorted by George Kerr to Taiwan to accept the Japanese government's surrender as the Chinese delegate. When the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II, General Rikichi Andō, governor-general of Taiwan and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island, signed an instrument of surrender and handed it over to General Chen Yi of the Kuomintang (KMT) military to complete the official turnover in Taipei (known previously as Taihoku) on October 25, 1945 at the Taipei City Hall (now Zhongshan Hall). Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be "Retrocession Day of Taiwan" and organised the island into the Taiwan Province. Taiwan has since been governed by the Republic of China.

Taiwan Independence Viewpoint

Supporters of Taiwan independence have argued that Taiwanese retrocession was invalid since there is no precedent in international law in which an instrument of surrender effected a transfer of sovereignty, and they base their belief in part on President Truman's June 27, 1950 statement regarding Taiwan's "undetermined status," which they hold as proof of the leading Allies' view. As late as November 1950, the US State Dept. announced that no formal act restoring sovereignty over Formosa and the Pescadores to China had yet occurred; . . .^[2] British officials reiterated this viewpoint in 1955, saying that "The Chinese Nationalists began a military occupation of Formosa and the Pescadores in 1945. However, these areas were under Japanese sovereignty until 1952."^[3]

In a lengthy legal essay published in Tokyo in 1972, Chairman Ng, World United Formosans for Independence, analyzed the British Parliamentary records and other documents, concluding that the legal status of Taiwan was undetermined.^[4] Writing in the American Journal of International Law in July 2000, Jonathan I. Charney and J. R. V. Prescott maintained that the Chinese Nationalists (ROC) began a military occupation of Taiwan in 1945 as a result of Japan's surrender,^[5] and that none of the post-World War II peace treaties explicitly ceded sovereignty over Formosa and the Pescadores to any specific state or government.^[6]

However, some scholars and academics maintain that Taiwan and Penghu were returned to the Republic of China according to the terms of the 1945 Japanese Instrument of Surrender, which stipulated Japan's compliance with the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. The Potsdam Declaration in turn included the terms of the Cairo Declaration, which required Japan to return all conquered territories to China, including Taiwan and Penghu.^[7].

Retrocession Day is currently not an official public holiday in the Republic of China; however, memorial activities are still being held by civilian organizations and individuals. The Democratic Progressive Party, which rejects the idea of Taiwan being taken back by China, downplayed the event during their two terms of presidency from 2000 to 2008.^[8][9]. In 2010, small scale memorials were held by the Taipei City Government to commemorate the 65th Anniversary of Retrocession.

Gallery of Images

• 

  Chen Yi (right) accepting the surrender of General Rikichi Andō (left), the last Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan, in Taipei City Hall.

• 

  A large banner hanging over Yanping North Road in Taipei celebrates Taiwan's Retrocession. October 25, 1945.

• 

  50th Anniversary of the Retrocession in 1995 at the Zhongshan Hall in Taipei

See also

• Holidays in Taiwan
• Victory over Japan Day
• Political status of Taiwan
• Zhongshan Hall

References

External links

• Taiwan's Retrocession Day on the Government Information Office website of Taiwan