KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (Kyodo) — A ceremony was held in southern Taiwan on Sunday to honor Taiwanese soldiers who died on battlefields serving for Japan during World War II, highlighting the need to preserve the former Japanese colony’s wartime history 80 years after the war’s end.
Participants including family members of Taiwanese soldiers and civilians who worked for the Imperial Japanese armed forces paid tribute to the lost lives at the War and Peace Memorial Park on Cijin Island in Kaohsiung, a coastal landmark where many took their final view of home before leaving for distant battlefields.
Japanese statistics show about 200,000 Taiwanese soldiers and civilians served for the Imperial Japanese armed forces between 1937 and 1945, and about 30,000 of them died. They did not receive adequate compensation from Tokyo upon returning to Taiwan.
According to the organizers, the ceremony commemorating those who sacrificed their lives in war helps preserve Taiwan’s collective memory of past conflicts and promotes historical justice. Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule for 50 years until 1945.
In his speech, Chu Ka-hong, president of the Taiwan Veterans Association, said, “This history teaches us that no matter who you are, the suffering caused by war is indiscriminate.”
“I hate war. This is a message I want to convey for the sake of my fellow soldiers who perished,” said a 97-year-old former Taiwanese Imperial Japanese Navy soldier who was trained for suicide attacks.
Liau Siok-ha, a 97-year-old former Imperial Japanese Army nurse, said, “I hope more Japanese people will learn that many young Taiwanese once dedicated their youth, and some even gave their lives, to Japan.”
The park also honors Taiwanese soldiers who fought in mainland China for the Nationalist military against the Communists during the Chinese Civil War. After being defeated by the Communists in the civil war, Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces retreated to Taiwan in 1949.
WWII ceremony honors Taiwanese soldiers who served for Japan
