People who still wonder why Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks relating to Taiwan on Nov 7 enraged so many Chinese should just visit the Memorial for the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Western Yunnan. I did that on Wednesday during a trip across the province.

The museum section of the memorial exhibits, among many other things, how the Chinese and Allied forces joined hands to fight the Imperial Japanese Army in China, Myanmar and India, highlighting the critical role of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the American Flying Tigers.

The Chinese Expeditionary Force was formed in 1941 by the Chinese army and dispatched to Myanmar and India in support of the Allied efforts in the Southeast Asia theater of World War II. It was a 100,000-strong army under the command of US Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell, then commander of the Allied China-Myanmar-India Theater, and Chinese General Luo Zhuoying and General Du Yuming. While the Japanese were defeated and surrendered in 1945, some 67,000 brave soldiers of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were killed or injured during the brutal battles in very challenging terrains.

The Flying Tigers, also known as the First American Volunteer Group, was commanded by Claire Lee Chennault, to help China fight the Japanese aggressors before the US entered WWII. Many US pilots sacrificed their lives.

Both the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the Flying Tigers played a very important role in China's ultimate defeat of the Japanese aggressors in 1945.

The fact that throngs of people visit the memorial every day, many laying flowers in front of the monument dedicated to the fallen soldiers, is proof that history should not be forgotten. Or rewritten.

I attended several Flying Tigers events during my years in the US, and visited a photo exhibition held inside the Pentagon in 2015 on the shared military history of the US and China in WWII. I also paid tribute to General Chennault in the Arlington National Cemetery.

The Cairo Declaration of 1943 jointly issued by Allied leaders clearly states that all the territories Japan stole from China, such as Northeast China, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, should be restored to China. In 1972, the Japanese government stated that it will adhere to Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation which stipulates that the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out.

Since the United Nations and all international laws recognize the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole lawful representative of China, there is no doubt that Taiwan is part of China. There should be no ambiguity about this historical fact.

However, Takaichi's remarks mean that Japan will intervene in China's internal affairs and violate China's sovereignty militarily with its Self-Defense Forces. Such remarks are extremely provocative and send a dangerous message to the separatists in Taiwan, especially those in the Democratic Progressive Party.

Her statements have once again opened the wounds of the brutal Japanese invasion and occupation of China — from the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894-95, when China's Qing Dynasty government was forced to cede Taiwan and other surrounding islands to Japan, to Japan's invasion of Northeast China in 1931 and its full-scale war against China in 1937 — which China suffered more than 35 million casualties.

Takaichi's stubborn refusal to retract her words as demanded by China does not show her strength, but her cowardice to face the truth of WWII history. It is an insult not just to the Chinese, but also to the Allied forces who fought and sacrificed their lives fighting the Imperial Japanese Army.

Takaichi's statement in the Japanese Parliament on Wednesday that "we maintain nongovernmental working-level relations (with Taiwan). Having renounced all rights and claims under the Treaty of San Francisco, we are not in a position to recognize Taiwan's legal status" might seem like a compromise, but the ambiguity reveals her longtime revisionist views of WWII history. She should state clearly that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China, which is the official position of the Japanese government.

Besides, Takaichi's recent flirtation with Japan's "Three Non-Nuclear Principles", which prohibit the possession, production, and introduction of nuclear weapons in Japan, is extremely dangerous.

There should be zero tolerance when it comes to WWII revisionists such as Takaichi. That is critical for maintaining peace and stability in East Asia and indeed the whole world.

The author is a China Daily columnist.

chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn

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