The poster of fim Dead To Rights Photo: Courtesy of Douban

While solemnly commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of Taiwan's recovery from Japanese occupation, the film Dead to Rights, a fine work that reflects true history, still has no chance of being screened in the Taiwan region. 

Some Taiwan compatriots spent more than 10 hours traveling across the Taiwan Straits to watch this movie. Zhu Songling, a professor from the Institute of Taiwan Studies of Beijing Union University, believes this reflects the Lai Ching-te administration's harsh suppression of cross-Straits cultural exchanges, and further reveals its political scheme to systematically distort national historical memory and push forward cultural "Taiwan independence."

The film Dead to Rights - a work that awakens national memory and fosters national sentiment - should serve as a bridge for cultural exchange and emotional resonance across the Straits. However, "Taiwan independence" forces have stigmatized it as a "united front tool" or "anti-Japan education." 

Zhu believes that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are attempting to sever Taiwan society's contact and understanding of Chinese history, culture, and national identity, enclosing Taiwan in an "information cocoon" of "de-Sinicization." Lai openly betrayed historical facts by whitewashing Japanese aggressors and denying the suffering of the Taiwan people under Japanese colonial rule. This "cultural betrayal" is essentially a form of collaborationism. Even more infuriating are the cold-blooded actions of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council in restricting and harassing retired servicemen and veterans of the War of Resistance traveling to the mainland.

The relentless suppression of the Taiwan residents' access to the truth is irrefutable evidence of Lai's "green terror" atrocities. Over the years, the DPP authorities have systematically promoted a cognitive poisoning campaign through textbook deletions, curriculum distortions, film and television bans, and suppression of free expression - all aimed at instilling the notion that the "people of Taiwan are not Chinese." Their aim is to sever the younger generations across the Straits from a shared historical narrative and cultural identity, to deprive reunification of its emotional foundation, and to strip national rejuvenation of a vital part of its strength. We must remain highly vigilant against such schemes.

Zhu said that banning a film cannot silence the countless descendants of China in their pursuit of collective memory; altering a page of history cannot obscure the epic of the nation written in blood and fire by compatriots on both sides. The Green Camp's desperate struggles are nothing more than ants trying to shake a tree - a humiliation they bring upon themselves.