Hong Kong Kuomintang exhibit reopens the debate on the war with Japan
Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The story of the Sino-Japanese conflict has yet to be written, said an architect. His collection of historical documents describing the role China’s Nationalists played in fighting the Japanese during the Second World War is set to go on display at a Hong Kong museum.
Soong Shu-kong, the 53-year-old collector, owns a collection of rare artefacts, documents and calligraphies. It is featured in ‘Mountains Ablaze: The Republic and the Sino-Japanese War 1912-1946,’ the second instalment of an exhibition on modern Chinese history that opens on Friday in the former British crown colony.
For the Taiwan-based architect, who is the son of a KMT sympathizer, “Today we are dealing with more and more people who want to twist Chinese history.” However, “As intellectuals, we must maintain our conscience. Only slaves ignore the truth and kowtow to those in power.”
Speaking about the various stories related to the struggle, he noted that the latter “were not told during colonial times because they could induce nationalistic emotions,” and “aren’t told now because the Communist Party claims that they won the war when in fact they were attacking Nationalist soldiers.”
The choice of Hong Kong is not accidental. “Hong Kong played a significant role as many of the revolutionaries met each other in the city,” said Soong, a native of the city. “But besides Dr Sun, many of these names are [now] forgotten in Hong Kong.”
Since the fall of the imperial system in 1911 and the end of the civil war 1949, the Kuomintang (founded in 1912) and the Communist Party (founded in 1921) clashed for political and ideological reasons.
After Japan renewed its invasion of China, the two theoretically put aside their differences to fight the common enemy. However, their respective forces often fought each other rather than the occupier.
The exhibition covers the period that goes from the 1911 revolution, when Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China, overthrew the Qing dynasty, to the end of the second Sino-Japanese War.
More than 300 pieces of artworks and artefacts will be on display, including important historical documents written by Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang government, and the US$ 20 million loan from the United States – the first loan to support the Chinese in their fight against the Japanese during the war.
.png)
