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Files reveal UK 'plan' to move HK residents to N.Ireland
By Alice RITCHIE
London (AFP) July 3, 2015


Veterans gather as Taiwan marks Japan's WWII defeat
Hsinchu, Taiwan (AFP) July 4, 2015 - War veterans gathered Saturday for Taiwan's first military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Japan in World War II, as the island vies with China over the history of the conflict.

Jet fighters and attack helicopters were among aircraft that flew past in formation as President Ma Ying-jeou spoke to the thousands gathered in the northern Hsinchu county on the nationalist Kuomintang government's role in the conflict.

The crowd applauded as jeeps carrying more than 20 veterans, displaying victory signs, paraded alongside trucks carrying ground troops and missiles, as well as tanks.

"There was only one truth: the war battling Japan was mostly conducted by the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan's official title), thanks to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek," Ma said.

"This must not be distorted and tampered. We do not want to boast about the victory, but rather we want to prevent war... Only in this way can we learn the lesson from history."

Japan invaded China in 1937 and the two countries fought a full-scale war until Japan was defeated in 1945, during which 3.2 million Kuomintang soldiers died, according to Taiwanese government figures.

The country's first parade to commemorate the defeat of Japan comes as Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang party fears Beijing is trying to give full credit for the victory to Mao Zedong's communist forces.

But the plans sparked criticism from the radical anti-China opposition Taiwan Solidarity Union, which urged the government to do more to support the military in practical terms rather than organise memorial events.

Veterans, however, expressed their pleasure at having been invited to take part.

Hsu Ming-teh, a former navy officer wearing a dark blue uniform decorated with a belatedly awarded national medal, was among more than 130 veterans at the ceremony.

"I'm really happy," he said, but added, "this would have been better if it were held 20 years ago, or half a century since the victory against Japan."

A fleet of 64 jet fighters, attack helicopters and utility aircraft flew low over the Hukou base while two newly-acquired Apache attack helicopters swooped and looped.

Japan's de facto ambassador to Taipei was absent from the military event. Sources familiar with the matter said the envoy declined to attend while claiming he had not received the invitation from the Taiwanese government.

Tokyo switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1972.

The Kuomintang government fled the mainland for Taiwan after their troops were crushed by the Chinese communist forces in 1949, at the end of a civil war in China.

Since Ma of the Kuomintang came to power on the island in 2008 with the promise of beefing up trade and tourism links, China has admitted the party contributed in the fight.

cty/tm

Apache

Weighed down by the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland, British officials jokily discussed the possible benefits of relocating the entire population of Hong Kong to the province, newly released documents showed Friday.

Government archives reveal how a proposal by an English academic to set up a new city state for Hong Kong's 5.5 million inhabitants prompted some creative correspondence between ministry officials.

In the Belfast News Letter in October 1983, a lecturer at the University of Reading, Christie Davies, warned that when Britain handed control of Hong Kong back to China in 1997, its residents' future would be in doubt.

He suggested they should be resettled in a new city state to be established between Coleraine and Londonderry, saying the move could revitalise the stagnant economy in the British-controlled province.

After seeing the article, Northern Ireland ministry official George Fergusson wrote a memorandum to a colleague in the Foreign Office, declaring: "At this stage we see real advantages in taking the proposal seriously."

He said it could help convince the pro-British population in Northern Ireland of London's commitment to the province, which was locked in a sectarian conflict between Catholic Republicans and pro-UK Protestants.

- 'A spoof between colleagues' -

Fergusson received a response two weeks later from David Snoxell, an official at the Foreign Office, suggesting it might send Northern Ireland residents heading in the opposite direction.

"The proposal could be useful to the extent that the arrival of 5.5 million Chinese in Northern Ireland may induce the indigenous peoples to forsake their homeland for a future elsewhere," Snoxell wrote.

"We should not underestimate the danger of this taking the form of a mass exodus of boat refugees in the direction of South East Asia.

"On the other hand, the countries of that region may view with equanimity the prospect of receiving a God-fearing, law-abiding people with an ingrained work ethic, to replace those that have left."

He warned the proposal could also have serious implications for Britain's dispute with the Irish government over ownership of Lough Foyle, an estuary on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

"The Chinese people of Hong Kong are essentially a fishing and maritime people," Snoxell wrote.

"I am sure you would share our view that it would be unwise to settle the people of Hong Kong in the vicinity of Lough Foyle until we had established our claims on the lough and whether these extended to the high or low water mark."

Snoxell, now retired, said he was surprised the exchange had been preserved in the National Archives, saying it was "a spoof between colleagues who had a sense of humour".

"Sadly, it's impossible to make jokes like this any more, the Diplomatic Service has lost its sense of humour," he told the BBC.

An estimated one million Hong Kong residents left the territory in the run-up to the handover to China, most going to Canada, the United States and Australia. Britain received about 50,000 families.


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