In Taiwan,this holiday was originally called Retrocession Day and later changed to "Taiwan Retrocession Day". In December 2000,the Taiwanese government abolished the Retrocession Day as a holiday. In 2025,the Legislative Yuan established Taiwan Recovery and Kinmen Guningtou Victory Memorial Day to jointly commemorate the recovery of Taiwan and the Guningtou Victory,and restored the day as a legal holiday. In October 2025,the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China established the Taiwan Recovery Day and stipulated that the country hold commemorative activities.
Under the authorization of American General Douglas MacArthur's General Order No. 1,Chen Yi (Chief Executive of Taiwan Province) was escorted by George H. Kerr to Taiwan to accept the Japanese government's surrender as the Chinese delegate. When the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II,General Rikichi Andō,governor-general of Taiwan and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island,signed a receipt of Order No. 1 and handed it over to Governor-General of Taiwan Chen Yi,representing the Republic of China Armed Forces to complete the official turnover in Taipei (known during occupation as Taihoku) on 25 October 1945,at Taipei City Public Auditorium (now Zhongshan Hall). Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be "Retrocession Day" and organized the island into the Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. Chen Yi's unilateral act,however,did not gain agreement from the US and the UK,for both considered Taiwan still under military occupation pending a peace treaty,[1][2] though the US accepted Chinese authority over Taiwan at the time and viewed the Republic of China as the legal government of China.[3][4] Taiwan has since been governed by the Government of the Republic of China.
History
In October 1946,the Taiwan Provincial Government issued an order to designate this day as the "Recovery Day" for the first time and to declare a day off.[5] Since then,this holiday has been included in the list of legal holidays of the Republic of China under the name of "Taiwan Recovery Day".[6][7]
In December 2000,the government of the Republic of China promulgated the revised "Regulations on the Implementation of Memorial Days and Holidays",which cancelled many holidays including Restoration Day.[8][9][10]
In May 2025,the Legislative Yuan passed the "Regulations for the Implementation of Memorial Days and Holidays" in its third reading,establishing the "Taiwan Retrocession Day and the Anniversary of the Battle of Guningtou" to merge Taiwan Restoration Day with the starting date of the Kinmen Guningtou Victory on October 25,1949 into the same memorial day to jointly commemorate two important events of historical significance to the Republic of China,and to restore holidays at the same time.[11]
↑ "Far East (Formosa and the Pescadores)". Hansard. 540 (cc1870–4). UK Parliament. 4 May 1955. Retrieved 1 September 2010. The sovereignty was Japanese until 1952. The Japanese Treaty came into force, and at that time Formosa was being administered by the Chinese Nationalists, to whom it was entrusted in 1945, as a military occupation.
↑ CIA (1949-03-14). "Probable Developments in Taiwan"(PDF). pp.1–3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015. From the legal standpoint, Taiwan is not part of the Republic of China. Pending a Japanese peace treaty, the island remains occupied territory......neither the US, or any other power, has formally recognized the annexation by China of Taiwan
↑ Maurer, Ely. "Legal Problems Regarding Formosa and the Offshore Islands", Department of State Bulletin, Vol. 39, pp. 1005–1011 (December 22, 1958)(transcript of speech on November 20, 1958)("Neither this agreement [of April 28, 1952] nor any other agreement thereafter has purported to transfer the sovereignty of Formosa to [the Republic of] China....The situation is, then, one where the Allied Powers still have to come to some agreement or treaty with respect to the status of Formosa. Any action, therefore, of the Chinese Communist regime to seize Formosa constitutes an attempt to seize by force territory which does not belong to it.").
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