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China seeks "revival" as it marks return of Taiwan
2005-10-25
BEIJING - Beijing, asserting its claim to self-ruled Taiwan, called for a national "revival" on Tuesday as it marked the 60th anniversary of the island reverting to Chinese rule, the first major commemoration of the event in five decades.But the anniversary of the 1945 handover by Japan was played down in Taipei, where Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled after losing the Chinese civil war in 1949. Beijing had avoided high-profile official commemorations of Taiwan's return in the past because doing so would complicate its claim that the Red Army -- and not the Nationalists -- won the eight-year war against Japan which ended as World War Two drew to a close. But China has taken a new tack as part of a drive to rein in the increasingly assertive leaders of Taiwan, which Beijing has threatened to attack if it formally declares statehood. Jia Qinglin, ranked fourth in the Communist Party hierarchy and head of the top advisory body to parliament, told a gathering at the cavernous Great Hall of the People in Beijing that "stopping separatist activities was the top priority". He spoke of the Chinese nation's "revival", echoing an editorial in the People's Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece. "Revival", in Chinese, alludes to a return to the strength and power of the earlier years of an imperial dynasty. China's last campaign for "revival" was from 1862-73 during the reign of Qing dynasty Emperor Tong Zhi. Zhou Qing, a Taiwan writer who also spoke at Tuesday's commemorations, told Reuters this month the commemorations were also aimed at putting Japan in its place in the wake of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit this month to a Tokyo shrine that critics see as a symbol of Japanese militarism. Analysts say the commemorations, along with an historic visit to China in April by Nationalist Party Chairman Lien Chan, and the Communists' qualification of their long-held claim that the Nationalists had little to do with fighting the Japanese are all aimed at preventing the island from drifting further away. "HUMILIATING HISTORY" A front-page editorial in the People's Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece, said the Chinese nation was on its way to "revival" and would not be humiliated again. China was full of confidence about its revival and reunification with Taiwan despite numerous difficulties and obstacles, it said without elaborating. "The humiliating history of the Chinese people suffering from invasions, ceding territory and paying compensation should not be repeated," the editorial said. The Chinese, including Taiwan compatriots, "crushed Japanese militarism' attempts to destroy China", the editorial said. About 35 million Chinese were killed or wounded during Japan's 1931-45 invasion and occupation of much of China. "Taiwan has never been a country. Rather, it is an inalienable part of Chinese territory," the editorial said. Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, who ended more than five decades of Nationalist rule when he won the 2000 presidential elections, has riled China with his insistence that the island is an independent, sovereign nation. Chen was re-elected in 2004. Despite simmering tension, trade, investment and tourism between China and Taiwan have blossomed since the late 1980s. As part of commemorations, an exhibit featuring 160 old photographs opened and a seminar was held in Beijing on Monday. A two-volume archival book on Taiwan's retrocession will be published soon. (Reuters)
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