Why October 25th remains a contested date for Taiwan and mainland China today
In short: Retrocession Day marks the 1945 transfer of Taiwan from Japanese rule to the Republic of China. While once a standard holiday, it has evolved into a flashpoint for competing political narratives. Today, both Taipei and Beijing utilize the date to assert conflicting claims over the island's sovereignty and historical legitimacy.
The origins of the holiday date back to the conclusion of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Following the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, Taiwan functioned as a Japanese colony. By the 1943 Cairo Conference, Allied leaders including Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill demanded the return of territories annexed by Japan. This requirement was reinforced by the 1945 Potsdam Declaration. On October 25, 1945, General Rikichi Andō formally surrendered control to Chen Yi at the Taipei City Public Auditorium, an event Chen immediately designated as Retrocession Day.
The legal status of this handover has long been a subject of international dispute. Although the Republic of China integrated the territory as a province, the United States and the United Kingdom did not formally recognize this unilateral action, viewing the island as being under military occupation until a definitive peace treaty. Domestically, the holiday's significance shifted after Taiwan's martial law era. In 2000, the government removed it from the list of official holidays, reflecting a broader public debate regarding the island's identity and historical memory.
The narrative surrounding the date intensified in 2025. The Legislative Yuan in Taiwan passed legislation to reinstate the holiday, merging it with the anniversary of the 1949 Battle of Guningtou. Simultaneously, the People's Republic of China established its own Commemoration Day of Taiwan's Restoration. Officials in Beijing, including Wang Huning, have framed the day as a tool for national reunification, while Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council characterizes the PRC's involvement as an attempt to distort history and undermine the sovereignty of the Republic of China.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Retrocession Day
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