Retrocession Day
Encyclopedia
Retrocession Day is an annual observance in the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

 (Taiwan) to commemorate the end of 50 years of Japanese colonial rule
Taiwan under Japanese rule
Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a dependency of the Empire of Japan. The expansion into Taiwan was a part of Imperial Japan's general policy of southward expansion during the late 19th century....

 of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 on October 25, 1945.

Background

Taiwan, then more commonly known to the Western world as Formosa
Formosa
Formosa or Ilha Formosa is a Portuguese historical name for Taiwan , literally meaning, "Beautiful Island". The term may also refer to:-Places:* Formosa Strait, another name for the Taiwan Strait...

, became a colony of the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 when Qing China
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 lost the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...

 in 1894 and ceded the island with the signing of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki
Treaty of Shimonoseki
The Treaty of Shimonoseki , known as the Treaty of Maguan in China, was signed at the Shunpanrō hall on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing Empire of China, ending the First Sino-Japanese War. The peace conference took place from March 20 to April 17, 1895...

. Japanese rule in Taiwan
Taiwan under Japanese rule
Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a dependency of the Empire of Japan. The expansion into Taiwan was a part of Imperial Japan's general policy of southward expansion during the late 19th century....

 lasted until the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

In November 1943, Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....

 took part in the Cairo Conference
Cairo Conference
The Cairo Conference of November 22–26, 1943, held in Cairo, Egypt, addressed the Allied position against Japan during World War II and made decisions about postwar Asia...

 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
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, USSR, and China in July 1945, reiterated that the provisions of the Cairo Declaration be thoroughly carried out.

Under the authorization of Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...

's General Order No. 1, Chen Yi
Chen Yi (Kuomintang)
Chen Yi and later Gongqia , sobriquet Tuisu ; 1883 – June 18, 1950) was the Chief Executive and Garrison Commander of Taiwan after it was surrendered by Japan to the Republic of China, which acted on behalf of the Allied Powers, in 1945...

 was escorted by George Kerr
George H. Kerr
George H. Kerr , also known in Taiwan as 葛超智 , was a United States diplomat during World War II, and in later years he was an author and an academic...

 to Taiwan to accept the Japanese government's surrender as the Chinese delegate. When the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...

, General Rikichi Andō
Rikichi Ando
-See also:* Taiwan under Japanese rule...

, governor-general of Taiwan
Governor-General of Taiwan
The position of Governor-General of Taiwan existed when Taiwan and the Pescadores were part of the Empire of Japan, from 1895 to 1945.The Japanese Governors-General were members of the Diet, civilian officials, Japanese nobles or generals...

 and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island, signed an instrument of surrender
Japanese Instrument of Surrender
The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was the written agreement that enabled the Surrender of Japan, marking the end of World War II. It was signed by representatives from the Empire of Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist...

 and handed it over to General Chen Yi of the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 (KMT) military to complete the official turnover in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...

 on October 25, 1945 at the Taipei City Hall (now Zhongshan Hall
Zhongshan Hall
Zhongshan Hall is a historical building which originally functioned as the Taipei City Hall. It is located at 98 Yanping South Road in the Ximending neighborhood of the Zhongzheng District in downtown Taipei City, Taiwan...

). Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be "Retrocession Day of Taiwan" and organised the island into the Taiwan Province
Taiwan Province
Taiwan Province is one of the two administrative divisions referred to as provinces and is controlled by the Republic of China . The province covers approximately 73% of the territory controlled by the Republic of China...

. Taiwan has since been governed by the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

.

Taiwan Independence Viewpoint

Supporters of Taiwan independence
Taiwan independence
Taiwan independence is a political movement whose goals are primarily to formally establish the Republic of Taiwan by renaming or replacing the Republic of China , form a Taiwanese national identity, reject unification and One country, two systems with the People's Republic of China and a Chinese...

 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
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...

'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; . . . 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."

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. Writing in the American Journal of International Law in July 2000, Jonathan I. Charney and J. R. V. Prescott
John Robert Victor Prescott
John Robert Victor Prescott FASSA is an Australian academic, author, geographer and Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne.-Early life:Prescott earned his BSc and MA degrees at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom...

 maintained that the Chinese Nationalists (ROC) began a military occupation of Taiwan in 1945 as a result of Japan's surrender, 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.

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
Potsdam Declaration
The Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender is a statement calling for the Surrender of Japan in World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S...

. The Potsdam Declaration in turn included the terms of the Cairo Declaration
Cairo Declaration
The Cairo Declaration was the outcome of the Cairo Conference in Cairo, Egypt, on November 27, 1943. President Franklin Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China were present...

, which required Japan to return all conquered territories to China, including Taiwan and Penghu..

Retrocession Day is currently not an official public holiday in the Republic of China
Public holidays in the Republic of China
The following are considered holidays in the Republic of China . Some are official holidays, some are not:Gregorian calendarDateEnglish NameLocal NameRemarksJanuary 1Founding DayFounding of Republic of China on January 1, 1912...

; however, memorial activities are still being held by civilian organizations and individuals. The Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party is a political party in Taiwan, and the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. Founded in 1986, DPP is the first meaningful opposition party in Taiwan. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity,...

, which rejects the idea of Taiwan being taken back by China, downplayed the event during their two terms of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 presidency from 2000 to 2008.. In 2010, small scale memorials were held by the Taipei City Government
Taipei City Government
Taipei City Government governs the city of Taipei, Republic of China.- Administration :The head is the mayor of Taipei and the vice mayor...

 to commemorate the 65th Anniversary of Retrocession.

Gallery of Images


Image:Ando Rikichi surrender.jpg|Chen Yi
Chen Yi (Kuomintang)
Chen Yi and later Gongqia , sobriquet Tuisu ; 1883 – June 18, 1950) was the Chief Executive and Garrison Commander of Taiwan after it was surrendered by Japan to the Republic of China, which acted on behalf of the Allied Powers, in 1945...

 (right) accepting the surrender of General Rikichi Andō (left), the last Japanese Governor-General of Taiwan, in Taipei City Hall
Zhongshan Hall
Zhongshan Hall is a historical building which originally functioned as the Taipei City Hall. It is located at 98 Yanping South Road in the Ximending neighborhood of the Zhongzheng District in downtown Taipei City, Taiwan...

.
Image:01122.jpg|A large banner hanging over Yanping North Road in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...

 celebrates Taiwan's Retrocession. October 25, 1945.
Image:Guanfujie50thAnniversary.jpg|50th Anniversary of the Retrocession in 1995 at the Zhongshan Hall
Zhongshan Hall
Zhongshan Hall is a historical building which originally functioned as the Taipei City Hall. It is located at 98 Yanping South Road in the Ximending neighborhood of the Zhongzheng District in downtown Taipei City, Taiwan...

 in Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...




See also

  • Holidays in Taiwan
  • Victory over Japan Day
    Victory over Japan Day
    Victory over Japan Day is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event...

  • Political status of Taiwan
    Political status of Taiwan
    The controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan hinges on whether Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu should remain effectively independent as territory of the Republic of China , become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China , or formally declare...

  • Zhongshan Hall
    Zhongshan Hall
    Zhongshan Hall is a historical building which originally functioned as the Taipei City Hall. It is located at 98 Yanping South Road in the Ximending neighborhood of the Zhongzheng District in downtown Taipei City, Taiwan...


External links

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