The War of Resistance Against Japan began on July 7, 1937 with a battle between Japanese and ROC troops at the Marco Polo Bridge about 15 kilometers southwest of Beijing. For the next eight years, ROC forces, using outdated weaponry and facing overwhelming odds, waged a desperate campaign against the Japanese occupiers. From 1937 to 1941, the ROC fought this battle with little international assistance. Then, following the Japanese attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, the ROC declared war on the Axis nations and joined the ranks of the Allied powers. As such, the Second Sino-Japanese War merged into the global conflict.
During the war, the ROC armed forces tied down some 800,000 well-equipped Japanese troops in China, severely hampering Japan’s ability to conquer new territory in Asia and combat the Allies elsewhere in the Pacific Theater. The human cost of the War of Resistance was staggering. More than 3 million ROC military personnel and 20 million Chinese civilians lost their lives or were seriously wounded, while most of the nation’s major cities were left in ruins.
This year, the ROC government has arranged a series of activities across Taiwan to commemorate the conclusion of this horrific conflict. These events, which will run until October 25, include book launches, exhibitions, film screenings and seminars designed to expand local and international awareness of the war, which has often been overlooked in Western histories of the wider global conflict.
The Ministry of National Defense, meanwhile, organized a large-scale public military display, attended by veterans of the 1937–1945 war, on July 4 in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County to showcase the nation’s modern weaponry. In addition, the ministry has minted 6,000 medals for all surviving ROC service members who fought in the War of Resistance Against Japan before September 3, 1945, whether they reside in Taiwan, mainland China or elsewhere.
As part of its commemorative events, the ROC government will honor two foreign nationals, German businessman John Rabe (1882–1950) and American missionary Minnie Vautrin (1886–1941), who saved the lives of countless civilians during the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. The government will also recognize the actions of ROC diplomat Ho Feng-shan (何鳳山, 1901–1997), who issued visas to more than 2,000 Jews so they could escape Nazi-occupied Austria during World War II.
The 70th anniversary of the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan is being commemorated in Taiwan not to celebrate triumph in conflict, but to honor those who fought and died to achieve peace. The people and government of the ROC cherish this hard-won peace and prosperity. Through efforts to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait ties as well as proposals to advance regional stability such as the South China Sea Peace Initiative, the ROC is honoring the legacy of those who sacrificed their lives in this war, and demonstrating its commitment to ensuring that this dark chapter of human history is never again repeated.