Retrocession vs. Reinvasion: A look at Taiwan’s Retrocession Day

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

3060 Edition

October 18~24, 2010

Headline News



Retrocession vs. Reinvasion: A look at Taiwan’s Retrocession Day



Reported by staff reporters

Written by Lydia Ma



October 25 is “Retrocession Day” in Taiwan, a holiday created by the 
KMT government after it took over Taiwan following Japan’s 

defeat by Allied forces at the end of World War II. This term 
literally means “bright” and “return” in Chinese and aptly describes 

how the KMT government perceived the impact of Japanese rule over 
Taiwan in contrast to its own rule over this island.



But many people in Taiwan would beg to differ based on their 
experiences with the KMT government soon after it took over 

Taiwan. For these folks, the KMT government in the 20th century was 
much worse than the Japanese government. Hence, if there 

is anything worth remembering about October 25, it is that this day 
marked the beginning of another foreign invasion of Taiwan.



Teachers divided over whether history curriculum is appropriate



According to the official high school history curriculum set by the 
Ministry of Education for 2009, the proportion of Taiwanese 

history, Chinese history, and world history for the 10th and 11th 
grades are 1.0, 1.5, and 1.5 respectively. 



Commenting on this structure, former Academia Historica President Dr. 
Chang Yen-Hsien said high school history books should 

be written with Taiwanese youths in mind and this is a bad 
arrangement because it doesn’t help students understand their 

country better.



While some teachers may argue that it’s inappropriate to bring 
politics into the classroom and there ought to be delineation 

between politics and culture, Chang is not convinced.



He went on to use the way U.S. history is taught to youths to make 
his point: Though most Americans are of European or British 

descent, U.S. history textbooks don’t include European or British 
history. Instead, European history and British history are taught 

as components of world history. In contrast, Taiwanese textbooks give 
a great deal of attention to Chinese history, even exceeding 

Taiwanese history. In response to this trend, Chang proposed that 
Chinese history should not only be de-emphasized, but also 

re-classified as a unit within high school world history curriculum.



Awakening Taiwanese identity through new anthems and flags



Fighting against this backdrop and confusion is Taiwan Teachers’ 
Alliance, a coalition of teachers who believe in the need of 

promoting home-grown Taiwanese heroes, and distinctively Taiwanese 
national anthem and national flag to highlight Taiwanese 

people’s sense of their unique identity. 



To this end, Taiwan Teachers’ Alliance held a contest recently and 
invited the public to participate and express their views and 

identity by using their imaginations to create a new flag and a new 
anthem for Taiwan. 



Held at Liu-Yuan Presbyterian Church on August 14, 2010, this contest 
drew a significant number of contestants. Each group of 

contestants designed its own version of Taiwan’s flag and anthem and 
drew inspiration from folk heroes such as Deng Nan-jung, 

Rev. Thomas Barclay, Rev. William Sia, Yoichi Hata, etc. as reference 
material. The winning group, a team including members 

from various churches in Taichung area, took home a cash prize of 
NT$100,000.



Replacing “Retrocession Day” with “Armistice Day” instead



The term “retrocession” can only be accurate from the standpoint of a 
colonizer who seeks to discredit whoever ruled a place 

before he came along, explained Taiwan Theological College and 
Seminary Professor of Church History, Dr. Cheng Yang-en. 



This term was used by the KMT government in Taiwan’s case to 
discredit Japanese occupation and achievements in Taiwan when 

KMT lost a civil war in China was forced to retreat and settle in 
Taiwan. Prior to that time, whether Taiwan belonged to China was 

a non-issue.



Cheng argued that the term is a propagandistic misnomer because 
Taiwan’s fate after the arrival of KMT included tragic events 

such as the 228 Massacre and a period now known as White Terror and 
brutalities that Taiwanese people never experienced 

under Japanese rule. That is the reason why some Taiwanese are 
renaming “Retrocession Day” as “Armistice Day” instead. 



An elusive sense of nationalism



Tainan Theological College and Seminary professor and history expert 
Wang Jen-wen remarked that Taiwanese people’s 

predicament is very unique as few people in the world would find 
themselves at a loss of how to state their nationality. She added 

that Taiwanese people often experience a sense of awkwardness no 
matter how they state their nationality. 



“To say “I am Chinese” would be false, because I’m not a citizen of 
the People’s Republic of China. I could say “I am Taiwanese” 

but there’s no record of a “country” with the name “Taiwan” in the 
world, at least not officially. To say “I am a citizen of the 

“Republic of China” (R.O.C.) would be even more preposterous as the 
use of this name has virtually been discontinued 

internationally and its government’s legality questioned among some 
circles,” Wang said.



Much soul-search remains to be done and it will invariably culminate 
in the need to review and redraft Taiwan’s constitution. But 

for now, as the nation prepares to celebrate the 100thanniversary of 
“R.O.C.” next year, Wang feels that the recent turn of events, 

especially the Ma administration’s controversial rapprochement with 
Beijing, have further accentuated this sense of awkwardness 

in defining what it means to be Taiwanese.



“Ironically, those who really advocated and defended a distinct 
Taiwanese identity and autonomy for this country apart from China 

were persecuted and treated as traitors by the KMT – the very party 
that started this country. And the two most prominent 

advocates of a distinct and autonomous Taiwanese republic – former 
presidents Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian – most likely 

will not be invited to attend government-sponsored celebrations next 
year.”

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