To commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the end of the War in the Pacific and the combined sacrifices of the United States and Taiwan (formally known as the Republic of China), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), has introduced legislation in the U.S. Congress to document the accurate historical record and soundly reject the propaganda espoused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which suggests that communist China was responsible for the success of the Allied forces in World War II.

                Smith said that his resolution calls out the CCP’s blatant acts of “stolen valor” and “bogus narratives,” which were most recently on display at a military parade in Beijing. He said, "This resolution rejects the dictatorship’s historical revisionism and deceitful, unscrupulous attempts at taking credit for the Allied victory in Asia in WWII."

                Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)—whose father was a part of the renowned Flying Tiger American Volunteer Group—and Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) joined Smith in introducing the resolution.

                The following remarks by Smith accompanied the introduction of the resolution:

                “Like many of you, World War II touched my life. My father was a combat infantryman in the South Pacific and New Guinea, and he was deployed to the Philippines for its liberation. He was not a veteran who brought the war home with him and to our family—he was a great dad—it was his respectful silence and reverence about the war and what he witnessed that left a profound impression on me. He spoke of the friendships and the bonds he formed with his army brothers, young men like him who were thrust into combat often just out of high school.

                And just as friendship and a special bond can be formed between men who served and sacrificed together, so too can friendship be forged between nations that bled and bonded together.

                We are here to recall the twin sacrifices of the Republic of China and the United States for the liberation of China in the Second World War. Units like the fabled Flying Tigers, which my friend Joe Wilson’s father was a proud member of.

                And we are also here to celebrate freedom and democracy, which exists in this great land and on the island of Taiwan, where the banner of the Republic of China still flies, and in Japan, our wartime adversary who is now our partner for peace and security in the Indo-Pacific.

                Yet, peace and security are now under threat from a rapacious communist regime, which seeks to dominate not only Taiwan, not only neighbors like Japan, Korea and the Philippines, but ultimately the world, as hegemon.

                We just saw a week ago, a gathering of tyrants, ranging from the leaders of Russia to Iran to Cuba, hosted in Beijing by Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party.

                We heard a dystopian vision articulated, of a future ‘Community of Common Destiny for Mankind’ which, when they thought the mic was off, included a future where organs would be harvested to prolong the lives of the tyrants to the point of ‘immortality.’

                And we also witnessed a military parade where a claim was made that the soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army marching today are the descendants of the soldiers who won World War II.

                That, however, is a false narrative, and an attempt to steal the valor of those who did fight—the men and women of the Republic of China and the United States.

                Indeed, the communists for the most part sat out the war, allowing the soldiers of the Republic of China to bear the brunt of the fighting, while the communists conserved strength, waiting to restart a civil war for the control of China.

                In order to push back on this CCP propaganda narrative, today I introduced a resolution, joined by my colleagues Reps. John Moolenaar, Tom Tiffany and Joe Wilson, that I would like to present to Ambassador Yui and the people of Taiwan.

                This resolution expresses the opposition of the House of Representatives to the Chinese Communist Party’s ‘stolen valor’ historical revisionism as to the Allied Victory in Asia, commemorating the contributions made by the Republic of China to that victory and our joint efforts, as exemplified by the legacy of the Flying Tigers.

                It also, importantly, acknowledges the post-war contributions of Japan to peace and stability.

                May freedom ever reign in Taiwan, and peace in the Pacific.”

###

Contact:
Teagan Gambert, Communications Director
(202) 225-3765
http://chrissmith.house.gov