China ratifies Commemoration Day of Taiwan’s Restoration

China’s national legislature on Friday voted to designate October 25 as the Commemoration Day of Taiwan’s Restoration.

The state will hold commemorative activities in various forms on this day, according to the decision adopted at the five-day session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC), which opened on Friday.

In 1895, the Qing government, having been defeated in a war initiated by Japan against China, was forced to cede Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan.

In 1945, all Chinese, including compatriots in Taiwan, achieved the great victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, which brought about Taiwan’s restoration to the motherland.

The restoration of Taiwan is an important outcome of the War of Resistance and a compelling proof of the Chinese government’s recovery of sovereignty over Taiwan, according to the decision.

It is also an important part of the historical fact and legal chain that Taiwan is an integral part of China, and a shared glory and national memory for compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, it added.

The decision was made in accordance with the Constitution, aiming to safeguard the outcomes of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the post-war international order, to demonstrate the firm will to uphold the one-China principle and defend national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and to strengthen the shared national memory of compatriots on both sides, it said.

When explaining the draft decision to the NPC Standing Committee, Shen Chunyao, director of the NPC Standing Committee’s Legislative Affairs Commission, noted that on October 25, 1945, the ceremony to accept Japan’s surrender in the Taiwan Province of the China war theater of the Allied powers was held in Taipei. From that point on, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands returned to China’s sovereign jurisdiction.

In recent years, NPC deputies, national political advisors and compatriots from Taiwan have repeatedly proposed the establishment of a commemoration day of Taiwan’s restoration and holding commemorative events, Shen said.

Establishing the commemoration day and holding commemorative activities at the national level will help honor the indisputable fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, consolidate the international community’s commitment to the one-China principle, urge compatriots on both sides of the Strait to inherit and promote the spirit forged in the War of Resistance, and motivate all Chinese to strive together for national reunification and national rejuvenation, he said.