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(born 1923), have said they believed at the time that they were Japanese. Lee himself
went by the name Iwasato Masao.
During the war, Taiwan's economy saw industrial production surpass agriculture. The
southern and eastern ports became bases for the Imperial navy, as well as training
grounds for Kamikaze pilots. Around 140,000 Taiwanese would serve in the war, with
some 30,000 dying. This, along with the population's widespread adoption of Japanese
cultural traits, did not sit well with the Chinese when they gained control of Taiwan fol-
lowing WWII.
Koxinga, the Ming admiral who expelled the Dutch from Taiwan, is revered by many loc-
als as a deity. He is worshipped at numerous temples across Taiwan, and a major uni-
versity in Tainan is named for him.
Taiwan Under KMT Rule
Taiwan's history after WWII is intimately tied to the Republic of China (ROC), founded
in 1911 (in China) after the Qing dynasty was ended by the revolution of Sun Yat-sen (a
doctor and Chinese revolutionary considered the father of the modern Chinese nation).
Though Taiwan was little discussed in the early decades of the republic, after the start of
the Sino-Japanese War it became part of a rallying call demanding the restoration of ter-
ritory the Chinese considered stolen by Japan.
That demand was met on 25 October, 1945, in a ceremony at Taipei's Zhongshan Hall.
There, Chinese General Chen Yi, on behalf of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, leader of
the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) accepted the Japanese instrument of
surrender on behalf of the Allied Powers. Though mandated only to administer Taiwan,
Chen Yi quickly declared the island was once again Chinese territory. Pro-independence
Taiwanese sometimes point to this moment as the beginning of what they consider the
KMT's illegal occupation of Taiwan.
However, at first, Taiwanese were mostly pleased with being returned to Chinese rule,
and local elites hoped that they would finally have the chance at the autonomy they had
struggled for under the Japanese. Unfortunately, under Governor Chen Yi, goodwill
would be short-lived. Chen Yi refused to share power (he, as many KMT leaders, con-
sidered the 'Japanicised Taiwanese' as deracinated and degraded beings), and began al-
lowing his ragtag army and civil service to loot, confiscate property and businesses, and
monopolise trade. Basic public services, such as garbage collection, that people had
grown used to under the Japanese were also abandoned. The economy went into a
tailspin, hyperinflation hit, and in 1947, riots against the government broke out, leading
to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians.
 
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