With the anniversary of the release of the first atomic bomb, I think it is important to raise the issue in regard to Taiwan. In August 1945, Taiwan was bracing for an American led invasion while sustaining increased air bombardment. According to my interviewees, Taiwanese between 75-93 years of age, they heard the news over the radio of a “disaster” in Japan and many of my subjects say people wept or wondered what would happen to Taiwan. When the Emperor addressed the nation on August 15, many recall the local police officals ordering the citizens of Taiwan turn on their radios and listen to “an important announcement”. Again, the Taiwanese felt shocked and in a state of disbelief. The japanese were very humble in defeat and the former oppressors meekly recessed from view. A few Taiwanese used the opportunity to seek revenge against teachers or policemen who had bullied them in the past, but most people felt defeated as well. Of the people I interviewed, none claimed to be a Chinese, most, when asked if they were Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese or any combination or none at all, replied… Japanese.
Any thoughts on how the Atom Bomb affected Taiwan?
[quote=“maowang”]With the anniversary of the release of the first atomic bomb, I think it is important to raise the issue in regard to Taiwan. In August 1945, Taiwan was bracing for an American led invasion while sustaining increased air bombardment. According to my interviewees, Taiwanese between 75-93 years of age, they heard the news over the radio of a “disaster” in Japan and many of my subjects say people wept or wondered what would happen to Taiwan. When the Emperor addressed the nation on August 15, many recall the local police officals ordering the citizens of Taiwan turn on their radios and listen to “an important announcement”. Again, the Taiwanese felt shocked and in a state of disbelief. The Japanese were very humble in defeat and the former oppressors meekly recessed from view. A few Taiwanese used the opportunity to seek revenge against teachers or policemen who had bullied them in the past, but most people felt defeated as well. Of the people I interviewed, none claimed to be a Chinese, most, when asked if they were Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese or any combination or none at all, replied… Japanese.
Any thoughts on how the Atom Bomb affected Taiwan?[/quote]
I must admit that I never gave any thought to how the atomic bomb affected Taiwan. However, I have met many older Taiwanese who grew up in the Japanese era, and they say (even now) that they would have preferred that Taiwan had remained part of Japan rather than being refashioned into a Chinese society (or even a Taiwanese society).
Some of those older folks still speak Japanese better than Mandarin (though nowadays they mostly speak Taiwanese), and they still watch Japanese TV. They definitely identify more with Japan than with China, despite being told for the past six decades that they are Chinese. So I can see how they would have felt a sense of loss when Japan got nuked and surrendered.
What may be worse is how many felt their grandchildren resented their longing for the “evil” Japanese. One man told me how there is a gulf of culture and communication between the grandparents and grandchildren because of language differences so he is unable to tell stories from his past or explain his views. His grandchildren hated him for keeping a Japanese flag and military hat in his room because they were taught that liking Japanese was selling out the nation.
If the bomb hadn’t been dropped, the Allies might have had to invade Taiwan. The commanders of the POW camps were under orders to execute the Allied prisoners in the event of an Allied invasion.
I’m not trying to play victim math here, saying x many lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are worth y many lives of Westerners in Taiwan. It’s just worth considering what the effect of such a slaughter would have been not only on how people in Taiwan look upon the history of this island but also on how Westerners and Japanese might view Taiwan today. But then again, Kinkaseki is already horrifying in itself – with little observable effect on the present.
And then there’s the effect that the invasion itself would have had on Taiwan. Also, with more of Taiwan’s infrastructure destroyed in the war, the KMT wouldn’t have had as much to loot for its sacred drive to reclaim the motherland…
[quote=“cranky laowai”]If the bomb hadn’t been dropped, the Allies might have had to invade Taiwan. The commanders of the POW camps were under orders to execute the Allied prisoners in the event of an Allied invasion.
I’m not trying to play victim math here, saying x many lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are worth y many lives of Westerners in Taiwan. It’s just worth considering what the effect of such a slaughter would have been not only on how people in Taiwan look upon the history of this island but also on how Westerners and Japanese might view Taiwan today. But then again, Kinkaseki is already horrifying in itself – with little observable effect on the present.
And then there’s the effect that the invasion itself would have had on Taiwan. Also, with more of Taiwan’s infrastructure destroyed in the war, the KMT wouldn’t have had as much to loot for its sacred drive to reclaim the motherland…[/quote]
My friend speaks better Japanese than Chinese any uses it to communicate with all the older rural folk! My Taiwanese friend’s father never speaks Chinese, only Taiwanese, Japanese and English. Taiwanese of course has borrowed a lot of words from Japanese.
One of my favourite examples is the Taiwanese word ‘slipa’ derived from the Japanese term which was derived from the original English, slipper!
I think another 20-30 years in Japanese rule and this country would have been as Japanese as Okinawa. We know the Japanese were not the nicest but at least if they had run Taiwan you can bet the place would be in a much better state, visually and living standards wise today. You can tell the buildings the Japanese built and the railway stations because they actually have some ‘aesthetics’ whereas the stuff built by the Taiwanese or KMT is just rubbish. It’s laughable to say that an invasion would have destroyed the infrastructure here. There was hardly an infrastructure to begin with. What the Taiwanese built in the past fifty years (disregarding after 1990 or so) has been cheap shoddy concrete crap. As for preserving history, the only place I’ve ever seen an authentic historic village from the last century are on some of the outlying Penghu island. Otherwise what often passes for historic here is some concrete stuff from the 1930s.
Last year I noticed what was probably a Qing era red brick 3 story building on nanjing rd roundabout. Beautiful. The only one I’ve ever seen in Taiwan. 2 months later it was replaced with a red brick 2004 building in the same style , what is the point??? People here think old is crap and that’s becauses most of the old stuff is crap here (old being as I said anything more than 15 years but only going back about 60-70 years at most).
As a side note when I visited Okinawa I realised they almost have no contact or any idea about Taiwan. It’s interesting because Taiwan is kind of part of the ryuku islands archaepalego but they dont have any remembrance of shared history and little contact with each other. Except the fishermen I guess.
The irony is that many Okinawans will say they have closer links to China to emphasize a seperate identity from Japanese. The japanese did their fair share of dislocation of buildings, but, in the case of one family temple, preserved it in another location. Okinawa was extremely close to Taiwan, culturally and economically. Peace Island in Keelung is a great example of mixing on Taiwan with Senar, Spanish, Dutch, Han, Okinawan, Japanese and Amis influences. The Okinawan population in Keelung was in the thousands following WWII. If you look hard you can still find brick buildings, but they are not valued as highly as symbols of material wealth.
My WW2 history may be a little wrong, but hadn’t the US already invaded Okinawa byt he time the dropped the A-bombs? Why would they then have to ‘go back’ and invade Taiwan? Unless you’re thinking that even had they successfully invaded the ‘home islands’ of Japan, they would still have had to ‘mop up’ Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria, SE Asia etc?
From what I’ve read, there were no plans drawn up to invade Taiwan. It was never a strategy.
I highly doubt it. The Japanese never seriously expected that Taiwanese could become ‘Japanese’. They only reluctantly started treating Taiwanese as real citizens during the war years in a desperate attempt to ensure some loyalty. If there hadn’t been such a need, I don’t think they would have done so. Taiwanese would have remained 2nd class colonial subjects indefinitely.
Also I think you’re underestimating the persistence of Han culture on Taiwan. As a supporter of Taiwanese local identity, I like to acknowledge the difference between Taiwnaese and ‘Chinese’ culture, but Han culture was still very strong. There is no way they would have abandoned that to become ‘Japanese’.
But maybe I’m just overestimating the degree of assimilation of Okinawans. To tell the truth, I know very little about Okinawan culture.
Finally, back to the topic - Taiwan and the A-bomb. Apparently Taiwanese used to say “Japan was lucky, the Americans only dropped the A-bomb on them, they dropped Chiang Kai-Shek on us”.
There was a plan in place to invade Taiwan (Island X), but MacAuthur chose a symbolic return to the Philippines in an effort to use the invasion as a photo op for a presidential run…The identity issue is not for the imagination of the japanese, but left to the imagination of the Taiwanese who tried to imagine themselves as Japanese.
They did have a plan to invade Taiwan, which went against the bypassing island method that they used in the Pacific. In doing so they could spread their forces. It would be risky to put all their eggs in one basket and park their military machine in Okinawa for an assault on Japan
Supposedly though the geography of Taiwan would lead to a long protracted fight. Storming the east coast and the Allies would have hit mountains.
Would the Japanese have fought harder for Taiwan than for say Hiro Jima since Taiwan was a colony and not the motherland? This may have been an unknown and a factor in the desicion.
Some people say that Mac Arthur returning victorious to the Philippines was to redeem himself from when the Japanese overran the Philippines. This victory netted the Japanese quite a few POWs. In fact on leaving the Philippines he is quoted as saying “I shall return”. The Philipines is further from Japan than Taiwan so having Taiwan as a base for bombing runs, would be more logical.
I don’t believe at that point in his career he was looking at the presidency. He was first a soldier then a diplomat, and his taste for politics was generated after the war when in was involved in building Japan. Wonder if he was president would he have got CKS’s help and gone the whole way to Moscow to eliminate communism
Did the Taiwanese feel shocked that their “countrymen” (Japanese) had been bombed, relieved that the Japanese had lost the war, or did they feel general apathy that their nationality would be changed again without asking them?
[quote=“TNT”]Wonder if he was president would he have got CKS’s help and gone the whole way to Moscow to eliminate communism
[/quote]I’m sure that ‘help’ would have been limited to holding his jacket while he did the fighting.
[quote]
Did the Taiwanese feel shocked that their “countrymen” (Japanese) had been bombed, relieved that the Japanese had lost the war, or did they feel general apathy that their nationality would be changed again without asking them?[/quote]For the most part it was guarded optimism that Taiwan would finally it’s soveriegnty back, hence the disappointment when the KMT started showing up and outnumbering the Americans.
[quote=“hsiadogah”][quote=“TNT”]Wonder if he was president would he have got CKS’s help and gone the whole way to Moscow to eliminate communism
[/quote]I’m sure that ‘help’ would have been limited to holding his jacket while he did the fighting.
[/quote]
It is important to remember this, i.e. the fact that all the air and naval bombardment against Taiwan in WWII was carried out by the US military. In relation to Taiwan, what did the ROC military do? Absolutely nothing.
So when the Japanese surrendered, who is going to be the principal occupying power of Taiwan? The USA of course. Hence Gen. MacArthur directs the ROC military to come to Taiwan and accept the surrender of Japanese troops. The Chinese then claim October 25, 1945 as “Taiwan Retrocession Day” but that is ridiculous. There was no transfer of sovereignty on that day … it was just the beginning of the military occupation. The transfer of sovereignty is done in the post war peace treaty.
In the peace treaty of April 28, 1952, since Taiwan wasn’t awarded to any other country, it is still under the administrative authority of the United States … it is a “military colony.” That is the only explanation under international law for Taiwan’s situation … hence the sooner you guys raise the US flag over Taiwan the better …
