China to hold celebration for contested Taiwan 'retrocession'

22/10/2025 11:42

China will hold a celebration to mark the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's "retrocession" to Chinese rule, the government said on Wednesday, which sources told Reuters would take place in Beijing's Great Hall of the People this weekend. Saturday marks the anniversary of Japan, which colonised Taiwan in 1895, handing the island to the Republic of China government in 1945. Both Taipei and Beijing refer to the handover as the "retrocession". China and democratically-governed Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, have repeatedly clashed this year over their differing interpretations of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two. Taiwan says it was the Republic of China that fought the war, not the People's Republic of China, which was founded by Mao Zedong's communists in 1949 after they won the country's civil war. The Republic of China government fled to Taipei and the Republic of China remains Taiwan's formal name. Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for China'

s Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters in Beijing that the government would hold a celebration to mark the anniversary and invite people from Taiwan to attend, though she did not give an exact date or say which Chinese leaders would attend. "Taiwan's retrocession stands as a significant achievement of the victory in the War of Resistance," Zhu said, referring to World War Two. "It was a great triumph forged through the relentless and bloody struggles of all Chinese people, including our compatriots in Taiwan, and deserves to be commemorated jointly by compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait." Three diplomatic sources told Reuters that China had sent out invites for the event, which would take place on Saturday morning in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. The invitation did not say who would address the meeting, they added. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. At the last such event in 2015, Yu Zhengsheng, a

t the time China's fourth-ranked leader, gave a speech and foreign representatives also attended. Taiwan's government last week banned Taiwanese officials from attending any "retrocession" events in China, saying Beijing is trying to distort history for its own means. Zhu said it was Taiwan that was trying to "distort and deny the historical facts" of World War Two, and "intimidate and suppress" Taiwanese from attending related Chinese events. China marked last month's anniversary of the end of World War Two with a massive military parade. Taipei on Saturday will host East Asia's largest Pride march, a riotous celebration of LGBTQ+ equality and diversity.