Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/31
By: Chiu Kuo-chiang and Christie Chen

Beijing, Aug. 31 (CNA) Former vice president and Kuomintang (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連

Lien Chan (left) and Yu Zhengsheng (front, right)

戰) said on Monday in Beijing that the only purpose of his China visit is to commemorate history by participating in an upcoming event that celebrates the 70th anniversary of the end of the Eight-Year War of Resistance against Japan (1937-1945).

The war to defend China against Japan’s invasion and occupation was the bloodiest war ever fought in China, with up to 23 million Chinese civilians and soldiers killed, according to estimates. It later became a part of World War II.

Lien’s visit is controversial because the Beijing event on Sept. 3 is seen as an attempt by the People’s Republic of China to play up the role of the communists in the war.     [FULL  STORY]