Trump-Xi meeting: Official rejects Xi’s WWII claim

TRICKY ISSUE: Taiwan’s defense of the ROC in WWII could conflict with the government’s narrative on Taiwanese history and identity, an academic said

• By Huang Ching-hsuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had no standing to discuss US-China relations in World War II (WWII), as the People’s Republic of China did not exist at that time, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister Shen Yu-chung (沈有忠) said yesterday.

Taipei would ensure that Washington has a clear understanding that it was the Republic of China (ROC), not the People’s Republic of China (PRC), that was a steadfast ally of the US in WWII, Shen said.

Shen was referring to a White House fact sheet released on Friday about Xi’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington.

Panelists, including Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen Yu-chung, center left, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Ming-chi, center right, pose for a photograph at a Taipei forum yesterday hosted by Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association.

Photo: CNA

It said that “the two leaders recalled that United States and China were allies in World War II and fought side by side to win the war.”

“Look at the greatness that we had together fighting in World War II. Brave American pilots volunteered to come to China and fight for the very survival of the legendary country and that legendary Flying Tigers group,” Trump said on Thursday in his opening remarks at a state dinner for Xi, referring to the First American Volunteer Group, nicknamed the “Flying Tigers,” who formed in 1941 to help oppose Japan’s invasion of China.

Xi in his remarks said that the “Chinese people have never forgotten that part of history, nor have the American people.”

Shen said Xi had no standing to talk about the US-China alliance in WWII, adding that then-Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) later described the party’s role during the war as 70 percent developing [its forces], 20 percent dealing with circumstances and 10 percent fighting the Japanese.

Moreover, the PRC had not yet been established, making it absurd to claim that the “China” in the US-China alliance was the PRC, he said.

Xi has been repeatedly promoting a narrative that frames WWII history from a perspective led by the PRC, Shen said.

The Republic of China Air Force has a long history of cooperation with the US Air Force, he said, adding that Taiwan would use the appropriate channels to ensure that the US has a clear understanding that the ROC was a steadfast US ally during World War II.

Whether in terms of geopolitics or economic and trade ties, Taiwan is also the US’ most reliable ally, he said.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) said he thinks Trump’s references to WWII and the Flying Tigers were intended to highlight that “the US has always helped China.”

However, Beijing specializes in “cherry-picking from history” and distorting historical events, he said.

China could continue to emphasize that narrative and claim that Washington recognizes that it was the PRC that worked with the US to resist Japanese militarism in WWII.

Soochow University associate political science professor Chen Fang-yu (陳方隅) said that Taiwan needs to address how the ROC is portrayed in the WWII narrative.

Taiwan finds itself compelled to defend the ROC’s status before 1945, but it is unclear whether doing so could conflict with the Democratic Progressive Party government’s broader narrative about Taiwan’s history and identity, he said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in a speech in July last year said that Taiwan’s national identity was established through democratization in the 1990s, Chen Fang-Yu said.

However, the government has not clearly articulated the relationship between the ROC and Taiwan before 1949, or prior to 1945, he said.

Taiwan should carefully consider what the relationship between the ROC and Taiwan was before 1949 and how to safeguard the status of the ROC as it existed then, he added.