Taiwan is pushing back against Beijing’s attempt to rewrite World War II history following a recent Washington summit where Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump highlighted their nations' historical wartime alliance.
Taipei expressed concern that Washington might adopt Beijing’s historical interpretation which could weaken US political and defense support for the island. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its territory, a claim Taipei firmly rejects.
The dispute stems from differing historical claims regarding China's role in World War II. Beijing asserts that Communist guerrilla forces formed the core of the anti-Japanese resistance. However, Taiwan’s government points out that the Republic of China (ROC)—which relocated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong’s Communists was the official government fighting alongside the Allied powers.
Following Thursday’s summit, a White House summary noted that Trump and Xi acknowledged how the US and China fought side by side during the war.
Shen Yu-chung, deputy head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, stated that Xi is actively trying to frame the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the primary Allied leader in Asia. Shen emphasized that Taiwan will continue communicating with Washington to ensure the US recognizes the Republic of China as its historical ally. Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu also accused Beijing of attempting to erase the ROC's role from history books.
The US de facto embassy in Taipei previously cautioned that Beijing uses distorted wartime narratives to pressure Taiwan. Political analysts in Taipei note that counteracting Beijing’s extensive global propaganda apparatus remains a significant challenge for Taiwan.
The historical issue also reflects internal political debates within Taiwan. Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895 until the end of World War II in 1945. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) emphasizes a distinct Taiwanese identity separate from mainland China.
Meanwhile the Taiwan’s main opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) which led the ROC government during World War II accused the DPP of highlighting 1945 ROC history only when politically convenient to counter Beijing.
