Surrender and Takeover
In October 1945, the Nationalist government held a surrender ceremony in Taipei, formally ending Japan's fifty-year colonial rule over Taiwan. However, the joy of "retrocession" was quickly overshadowed by numerous problems during the takeover. Chen Yi's civil-military unified administration, the uneven quality of incoming officials, administrative barriers caused by language differences, and the wholesale transformation of Taiwan's existing institutions rapidly intensified social tensions.
During this period, the United States played a critical role as observer. American military liaison groups stationed in …
During this period, the United States played a critical role as observer. American military liaison groups stationed in Taiwan closely documented the chaos of the takeover process and repeatedly reported Chen Yi's governance failures to Washington. These reports later became essential archives for understanding Taiwan's political situation in the early post-war period.
This volume includes rare historical photographs of the surrender ceremony, American military observation reports, and the historic scene of Ando Rikichi signing the instrument of surrender, presenting the complex historical turning point from colony to motherland's embrace, from hope to disillusionment.
For the Republic of China, the retrocession of Taiwan on October 25, 1945, represented the rightful recovery of national territory lost fifty years earlier. Governor-General Chen Yi presided over the surrender ceremony in Taipei, formally accepting Japanese capitulation and declaring Taiwan restored to Chinese sovereignty. The ROC government viewed Taiwan through the lens of national reunification and anti-colonial triumph. However, the administration that arrived was shaped by years of continental warfare and corruption. Chen Yi's government imposed a state monopoly system, appointed mainland officials to key positions, and showed little understanding of a society that had undergone half a century of Japanese modernization. The gap between the government's rhetoric of liberation and the reality of its governance would soon become a source of deep Taiwanese disillusionment.
October 25, 1945: The surrender ceremony held at Taipei Public Hall (now Zhongshan Hall). Chen Yi, representing the ROC government, accepted the surrender of Japanese Governor-General Ando Rikichi.
National Archives Administration, NDC
Members of the American military liaison group photographed in Taiwan. The group was responsible for observing and reporting on post-war Taiwan's political and social conditions. Their reports became essential American archives for understanding this period.
U.S. National Archives (NARA)
The historic moment of Ando Rikichi, Japan's last Governor-General of Taiwan, signing the instrument of surrender, marking the formal end of Japan's fifty-year colonial rule over Taiwan.
Academia Historica
Isle of Time