| Retrocession Day | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Observed by | |||||||||||||||
| Type | Historical,cultural,nationalist | ||||||||||||||
| Significance | Commemorates the retrocession of and the end of the Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan | ||||||||||||||
| Date | 25 October 1945 | ||||||||||||||
| Frequency | Annual | ||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 臺灣光復節 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 台湾光复节 | ||||||||||||||
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| Taiwan Recovery and Kinmen Guningtou Victory Memorial Day | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 臺灣光復暨金門古寧頭大捷紀念日 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 台湾光复暨金门古宁头大捷纪念日 | ||||||||||||||
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| Commemoration Day of Taiwan's Restoration | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 臺灣光復紀念日 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 台湾光复纪念日 | ||||||||||||||
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Retrocession Day, officially called theTaiwan Retrocession Day and theAnniversary of the Battle of Guningtou inTaiwan and theCommemoration Day of Taiwan's Restoration inmainland China, is apublic holiday in the Republic of China (Taiwan) and a memorial day in thePeople's Republic of China, created in 2025, to commemorate the end ofJapanese rule of Taiwan andits transfer to theRepublic of China on 25 October 1945.
Taiwan, then more commonly known to the Western world as "Formosa", became a colony of theEmpire of Japan after theQing dynasty lost theFirst Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and ceded the island with the 1895Treaty of Shimonoseki.Japanese rule in Taiwan lasted until the end ofWorld War II.[citation needed]
In November 1943,Chiang Kai-shek took part in theCairo Conference withFranklin D. Roosevelt andWinston Churchill, who firmly advocated that Japan be required to return all of the territory it had annexed into its empire, including Taiwan and thePenghu (Pescadores) Islands. Article 8 of thePotsdam Declaration, drafted by theUnited States,United Kingdom, and China in July 1945, reiterated that the provisions of theCairo Declaration be thoroughly carried out, and theJapanese Instrument of Surrender stated Japan's agreement to the terms of the Potsdam Proclamation.[citation needed]
Under the authorization of American GeneralDouglas MacArthur'sGeneral Order No. 1,Chen Yi (Chief Executive of Taiwan Province) was escorted byGeorge H. Kerr to Taiwan to accept the Japanese government's surrender as the Chinese delegate. When theJapanese surrendered at the end of World War II, GeneralRikichi Andō,governor-general of Taiwan and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island, signed a receipt of Order No. 1 and handed it over toGovernor-General of Taiwan Chen Yi, representing the Republic of China Armed Forces to complete the official turnover inTaipei (known during occupation as Taihoku) on 25 October 1945, at Taipei City Public Auditorium (nowZhongshan Hall). Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be "Retrocession Day" and organized the island into theTaiwan Province of the Republic of China. Chen Yi's unilateral act, however, did not gain agreement from the US and the UK, for both considered Taiwan still under military occupation pending a peace treaty,[1][2] though the US accepted Chinese authority over Taiwan at the time and viewed the Republic of China as the legal government of China.[3][4] Taiwan has since been governed by theGovernment of the Republic of China.
In October 1946, theTaiwan Provincial Government issued an order to designate this day as the "Recovery Day" for the first time and to declare a day off.[5] Since then, this holiday has been included in the list of legal holidays of the Republic of China under the name of "Taiwan Recovery Day".[6][7]
The meaning of the holiday and whether it should be celebrated have been publicly debated following the period ofmartial law in Taiwan.[8] In December 2000, Taiwan's government promulgated the revised "Regulations on the Implementation of Memorial Days and Holidays", which cancelled many holidays including Restoration Day.[9][10][11]
In May 2025, theLegislative Yuan under the control of theKuomintang passed the "Regulations for the Implementation of Memorial Days and Holidays" in its third reading, establishing the "Taiwan Retrocession Day and the Anniversary of theBattle of Guningtou" to merge Taiwan Restoration Day with the starting date of the Kinmen Guningtou victory on 25 October 1949 into the same memorial day to jointly commemorate two important events of historical significance to the Republic of China, and to restore holidays at the same time.[12][better source needed] MajorDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP) figures, such asHsu Kuo-yung, spoke out against the reestablishment of the holiday.[8]
In 2025, the Taiwanese government announced that it would be celebrated in 2026.[8][13]
On 24 October 2025, theStanding Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China established the "Commemoration Day of Taiwan's Restoration" and stipulated that the country would hold commemorative activities,[14] a decision whichTaiwan Affairs Office directorSong Tao said was done "personally" byGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyXi Jinping.[15] The following day,Wang Huning, thechairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, attended an event to mark the day, where he said mainland China and Taiwan should "work together to advance the cause of national reunification and must leave no room for any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities".[15][16] PRC government sources and allied think tanks have described the holiday as an opportunity to conductlawfare and "historical narrative warfare" (Chinese:历史论述战) in support ofChinese unification.[8]
Taiwan'sMainland Affairs Council called the PRC's designation of the holiday in mainland China an attempt to "belittle our country and fabricate the claim that Taiwan belongs to the PRC."[17] Taiwan barred its officials and students from attending celebratory events for the day in the PRC.[18][8]
The DPP,Taiwanese independence groups, and some commentators see the PRC's holiday as an attempt torevise history and create uncertainty about thepolitical status of Taiwan for the purpose of advancing pro-unification narratives.[19][20][8]
In some major cities in the United States,united front groups, such as the Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China, and various overseas Chinesehometown associations have organized celebrations of the day.[8]
The sovereignty was Japanese until 1952. The Japanese Treaty came into force, and at that time Formosa was being administered by the Chinese Nationalists, to whom it was entrusted in 1945, as a military occupation.
From the legal standpoint, Taiwan is not part of the Republic of China. Pending a Japanese peace treaty, the island remains occupied territory......neither the US, or any other power, has formally recognized the annexation by China of Taiwan
But in the view of our State Department, no agreement has 'purported to transfer the sovereignty of Formosa to (the Republic of) China.' At the present time, we accept the exercise of Chinese authority over Formosa, and recognize the Government of the Republic of China (the Nationalist Government) as the legal Government of China.
Media related toSurrender of Japan in Taiwan at Wikimedia Commons
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