Does Taiwan owe its prosperity to Japan's five-decade
colonization?
Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso accepted all the credit for
his country on Saturday.
In his words, his country's occupation of the island from 1895
to 1945 was "a good thing."
"Thanks to the significant improvement in education standards
and literacy (during colonization), Taiwan is now a country with a
very high education level and keeps up with the current era," Aso
said.
Bragging about what the compulsory education did to Taiwan, Aso
has deliberately ignored the callous episodes of Japan's
colonization of the island.
Thousands of Taiwan people were forced into serving in the
Japanese military during Japan's colonization. About 28,000 war
dead from Taiwan are enshrined at the Yasukuni Shrine under
Japanese names they were forced to assume.
The Taiwan people said they want their relatives' names removed
from the memorial plaques there because it is "morally unpardonable
that murderers and victims are honored at the same place."
From the early days of their modernization, the Japanese rulers
studied not only the Western countries' modern sciences,
philosophies, manufacturing and management methods but also the
myriad aspects of colonial administration.
In 1895, Japan began to build an empire like those of Britain
and other European powers. China and Korea were the initial targets
of Japan's expansion.
After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, Japan assumed control
over Taiwan. The Japanese then exploited Taiwan as an agricultural
colony producing rice and sugar.
A country infamously poor in its own sources of energy as well
as raw materials, Japan colonized Taiwan to pursue its own economic
profits.
Taiwan was made a remote prefecture of Japan: a challenge for
military mobilization and a source of cannon fodder, but far from
the imperial frontier and a passive recipient of commands emanating
from Tokyo.
The history of the Taiwan Development Corporation of 1936-1946
demonstrates that Taiwan's role was active and complex. Created to
foster development in Taiwan and economic expansion into Southeast
Asia and South China, the activities of this public policy company
ranged broadly from forestry, agriculture, and fishing to chemicals
and mining.
Japan colonized Taiwan in the face of strong hostility from both
Taiwanese and aborigines. After several massacres, the Japanese
began their colonization. They attempted to "Japanize" the Taiwan
people by making Japanese the official language of education and
government. To this day, many older people in Taiwan can speak
Japanese.
Is this part of the "good thing" the colonization did to
Taiwan?
During World War II, Taiwan was used as a major staging ground
for the Japanese. Upon their surrender, the Taiwan people
celebrated their liberation from Japan.
If Japan's occupation of foreign lands had done any good to
them, why did the Japanese prime minister, former and incumbent,
apologize for his country's wartime colonization and invasions?
On the 60th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II
last year, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi admitted that his
country has caused great damages and pain to people in many
countries, especially the Asian neighbors, through colonization and
invasion.
In Aso's eyes, those damages and pain were miracles of Japan for
Taiwan.
After all, Japan has never apologized for its colonization of
Taiwan.
Tokyo has failed to atone fully for invading its Asian neighbors
and colonizing the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan.
Taiwan and other colonies were good milking cows for Japan when
they were under its brutal occupation.
Japan owes them apologies.
(China Daily February 7, 2006)
