Ma: No Taiwan without Second Sino-Japanese War

presidential candidate Ma In an effort to reconcile Republic of China patriotism with Taiwan-centric identity, KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou made a rather interesting statement:

（中央社記者黃彥瑜新竹縣七日電）國民黨總統參選人馬英九今天回答媒體詢問，就民進黨在七七抗戰相關議題淡化處理的看法時表示，歷史是一面鏡子，歷史的紀念日還是要紀念。他強調，沒有七七抗戰，就沒有台灣。
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou, in response to media questions today about his views on how little attention the DPP is paying to commemorating the Marco Polo Bridge incident, said that history is a mirror and we must mark historical memorial holidays. He emphasized that without the Marco Polo Bridge incident, there would be no Taiwan.

Now. Wow. That's a stretch. But ok, maybe he's not totally crazy. His statements makes more sense with information a little further down in the article. Remember, he was speaking at an event to commemorate 7-7 being held by the Veterans Association of the Republic of China.

他感謝這些退伍軍人們的付出，因為有這些人，才能保住台灣，政府應該在有能力的範圍內照顧他們，讓他們感受到這是有情有義的國家。

Ma said he felt thankful for the price that had been paid by these veterans. It was because of them that Taiwan could be protected, and the government out to take care of them as much as it can while letting the veterans feel they have a country that is loving and just.

OK, at least that's not total nonsense. If Taiwan had no veterans, it would have no army, and therefore would likely be in the hands of another country. Ma goes on to praise retrocession day.

But I just want to point out that this particular incident marks the beginning of the second, more intense phase of hostilities in the war between China and Japan. It happened near Beijing. The battle itself had no immediate or direct effect on Taiwan at all.

There are at least four better candidates for an incident that sets up the modern Taiwan.

+ The Qing creation of Taiwan province in 1887.
+ The treaty of Shimonoseki (馬關條約), which gave Taiwan to Japan.
+ The Japanese surrender of claims to Taiwan on Sep. 2, 1945.
+ The defeat of the KMT in the mainland and the subsequent separation. Let's say starting on Oct. 1, 1949 (the day the PRC was established). Maybe these two days could be combined for a "twofer" holiday.

Hell, even retrocession day. This was a weak one from Ma.