Activities on the Chinese mainland to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Taiwan from Japan have improved relations across the Taiwan Straits, according to a visiting scholar from China's Taiwan Province.
       
Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the "Treaty of Shimonoseki," signed by the Qing Dynasty government after it was defeated in the Sino-Japanese war (1894-95). Only on October 25, 1945, after World War II had ended, did Taiwan formally reclaim its Chinese identity.
   
A big celebration ceremony will be held in Beijing tomorrow, some six decades later.
   
"The day marks the time when Taiwan returned to the motherland," said Wang Hsiaopo, a professor from the National Taiwan University. "The day tells us we are always Chinese."
   
"There could be no reunification (of the mainland with Taiwan) if Taiwan wasn't returned from Japan."
   
Wang made these remarks at a commemoration conference in Beijing yesterday, attended by mainland officials and visiting Taiwan scholars and war veterans.
   
While emphasizing the contribution Taiwan compatriots played in national liberation, Wang said patriotism for the motherland played a key role in the victory.
   
"The Taiwan people had a deep feeling of patriotism while fighting against the Japanese imperialists," Wang said.
   
"Today, that feeling continues to inspire people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, pushing forward reunification."
   
A photo gallery to commemorate the anniversary opens today at the National Museum of China in Beijing.

(China Daily October 24, 2005)