On 25 October 1945, Japan handed over Taiwan and Penghu to the Republic of China, as a result of World War II. This marked the end of Japanese rule and the beginning of post-war era of Taiwan. This event was referred to by the Republic of China as the retrocession of Taiwan (臺灣光復).國籍與公民權：人民與國家「身分連結」的法制溯源與法理分析 ，第34-36頁，李建良，台北：中研院政治所、中研院社會所，2006-05-26蘇瑤崇，「終戰」到「光復」期間臺灣政治與社會變化 ，國史館集刊第十三期，2007年9月 The Republic of China government viewed this as the restoration of Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan, following its cession to Japan in 1895 after the Qing dynasty's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War. Therefore, the event was named "retrocession", a notion that has been controversial since the democratisation of Taiwan in the 1990s. The date of the handover is annually celebrated as the Retrocession Day, which was a public holiday in Taiwan from 1946 to 2000, and again from 2025. The day has also been marked as a memorial day in mainland China since 2025.
On 15 August 1945, Japan announced its surrender following its defeat in World War II. On 2 September, Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, issued General Order No. 1, instructing Japanese forces in various locations to surrender to the Allies. The order specified that Japanese troops in Taiwan were to surrender to the Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang delegated He Yingqin as his plenipotentiary for the surrender process, who further appointed Chen Yi to oversee the surrender in Taiwan. The Governor-General of Taiwan and Commander of the Japanese 10th Area Army, Rikichi Andō, on behalf of Japan, surrendered to Chen Yi at the Taipei Public Hall on 25 October, signing the documents to formalise the transfer.臺灣省諮議會- 戰後臺灣如何「光復」？ ，臺灣議政史料展，臺灣省諮議會網站
Background
The Qing dynasty ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 under the Treaty of Shimonoseki following its defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War. The 1911 Revolution brought about the fall of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China.
Japanese aggression escalated into full-scale conflict after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, drawing the Republic of China into the Second Sino-Japanese War. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Republic of China officially joined the Allies in World War II. The Republic of China sought Allied agreement for Japan to relinquish Taiwan and return its sovereignty to China after the war. This intention was included in the Cairo Declaration and reiterated in the Potsdam Proclamation, which called for the fulfilment of these terms.
Government plans On 17 April 1944, the Chinese Nationalist government in Chongqing, through the Kuomintang's Central Design Bureau, established the Taiwan Investigation Committee. Chen Yi, who had participated in the 40th Anniversary Commemorative Taiwan Expo, was appointed as the head. Initially, no Taiwanese members were part of the committee, but in September, several Taiwanese members were added. In May 1944, the Central Design Bureau divided the Chinese territory into three zones: the rear zone, the recovered zone, and the retroceded zone, with Taiwan and Manchuria being the retroceded zone.〈復員計畫綱要（二）〉，《國民政府》，國史館藏，數位典藏號：001-041100-00002-002，P. 8
With the end of the war, the Nationalist government debated two plans for Taiwan: a normal Chinese province or a special administration area with additional military authorities. Chiang Kai-shek, upon the suggestion of Chen Yi, turned Taiwan into a Chinese province, yet he set up the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office, which had extensive political and military power. This design was criticized by Taiwanese and was called the New Governor-General Office.二二八事件 ，李筱峰，1997年2月25日
Takeover
Initial reactions On 15 October 1945, the National Revolutionary Army of China arrived in Taiwan, landing at Keelung, where they were greeted warmly by the local Taiwanese population.悲劇的歷史拼圖 金山鄉二二八事件之探析 ，頁5，中央研究院近代史研究所彙刊第36期，2001-12 Businesspeople took out advertisements in local newspapers to celebrate the takeover, and streets were filled with celebrations marked by firecrackers and Chinese lanterns. Although there were limited incidents of Taiwanese retribution against the Japanese, the general situation remained calm and orderly, with the Taiwanese anticipating the Chinese administration's arrival.
Surrender ceremony On 25 October 1945, the Japanese surrender ceremony in Taiwan took place at 10 a.m. Western Standard Time at the Taipei Public Hall. The surrendering party was the Japanese Empire's 10th Area Army, represented by Governor-General of Taiwan and 10th Area Army Commander General Rikichi Andō. Chen Yi represented the Allied Commander-in-Chief Chiang Kai-shek to accept the surrender, which was witnessed by representatives of Nationalist government, Taiwanese people, Japanese forces, and American forces.慶祝抗戰勝利五十週年兩岸學術硏討會論文集，第1卷，第553頁，中國近代史學會，聯合報系文化基金會，1996
Representatives of the Nationalist Government: Chen Yi, Ge Jing'en, Ko Yuan-fen, Huang Chao-chin, Yu Mi-chien, Sung Fei-ju, Li Wan-chu. Representatives of the Taiwanese people: Lin Hsien-tang, Chen Hsin, Mosei Lin, Tu Tsung-ming, Lo Wan-chu, Xie Shuangqiu, Huang Shih-hung, Wang Baiyuan. Representatives of Japan: Rikichi Andō, Haruki Isayama, Hifumi Suda, Tasuku Nakazawa. Allied representatives: Edwin A. Locke Jr., Cecil J. Gridley, Henry Berk, Ulmont W. Holly, George H. Kerr, among 19 others.
After the surrender ceremony, Chen Yi delivered a radio speech proclaiming that Taiwan and the Penghu Islands had rejoined China, marking Taiwan's retrocession. George H. Kerr, who was invited to proofread the English translation of Chen Yi's Chinese speech, noted that it omitted any mention of the role played by the United States.美國駐台北副領事葛超智與「二二八事件」，第128頁，王呈祥，海峽學術出版社，2009 On the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office officially began operations, with its headquarters located at the former Taipei City Hall.
Property takeover From November, the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office and the Taiwan Garrison Command jointly established the Taiwan Provincial Receiving Committee, tasked with taking over military and administrative functions, as well as Japanese assets in Taiwan. In January 1946, the Handling Committee was set up under the Receiving Committee, with branches in 17 counties and cities to oversee the management of Japanese assets. By July, additional bodies, namely the Property Auction Committee and the Property Liquidation Committee, were established to handle the valuation, auction, and settlement of debts and claims related to the properties and financial institutions.
Aftermath
Shortly after the takeover, the Taiwanese people witnessed a corrupt and undisciplined Chinese administration that seized Taiwan's resources to support the civil war on the mainland. The government's poor economic management led to hyperinflation, reduced production,「由終戰五十年談台灣前途座談會」紀實 ，台灣教授協會通訊第四期，1995-09 widespread unemployment and hunger,甘蔗悲歌-二林事件 ，第306頁，歷史教學理論與實務，吳翎君，五南圖書出版股份有限公司，2004-01-10 and a rise in violent crime.從台海兩岸文化差異看台灣前途 ，李筱峰，2013-01-29 Taiwanese citizens faced discrimination by mainland military and government officials,為這個時代留下永遠的歷史見證與紀錄 ，第179頁，李筱峰，Third Nature Publishing Co.，2004 which fueled growing resentment. These factors ultimately contributed to the eruption of the 28 February incident.本會簡介 ，財團法人二二八事件紀念基金會 Many intellectuals who had supported the end of Japanese rule and were hopeful for Chinese governance, including Lin Hsien-tang, were either killed or forced to flee by the government.狂飆的年代：近代台灣社會菁英群像 ，第4頁，林柏維，秀威出版，2007-09-01
Interpretations and disputes
The Nationalist government was criticised for controlling Taiwan as "conquerors", displaying an attitude of "superiority" and exercising authoritarian power.二二八事件資料集，第29頁，鄧孔昭，稻鄉出版社，1991 It implemented a 40-year-long period of White Terror, during which Taiwanese people, especially Benshengren, were repressed, and democracy, human rights, and freedoms were stifled. Therefore, a good number of Taiwanese scholars believed that there was no retrocession of Taiwan, but the island was once again conquered by a foreign government.「光復」？還是淪入另一個外來政權統治？ ，張炎憲，鯨魚網站，2009-10-20何日再光復?─台灣光復節八月十五日 台灣淪陷日十月廿五 ，周明峰，台灣e新聞，1991-04-15
Governmental positions The official position of both the Republic of China (ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) is that Taiwan and Penghu were returned to the Republic of China according to the terms of the 1945 Japanese Instrument of Surrender, which stipulated Japan's compliance with the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. The Potsdam Declaration in turn included the terms of the Cairo Declaration, which required Japan to return all conquered territories to China, including Taiwan and the Pescadores.
The ROC clarified its understanding of the Cairo Declaration in 2014 as a legally binding instrument.”Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarifies legally binding status of Cairo Declaration” (January 21, 2014). Among other things, the clarification listed later treaties and documents that "reaffirmed" aspects of the Cairo Declaration as legally binding, including the Potsdam Proclamation, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, the Treaty of San Francisco, and the Treaty of Taipei:The post-war status and jurisdiction over Taiwan and its appertaining islands, including Penghu, was resolved through a series of legal instruments—the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and the Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan of 1952. The implementation of the legal obligation to return Taiwan and its appertaining islands (including the Diaoyutai Islands) to the ROC was first stipulated in the Cairo Declaration, and later reaffirmed in the Potsdam Proclamation, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and the Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan. The Cairo Declaration is therefore a legally binding instrument with treaty status.In November 1950, the United States Department of State announced that no formal act restoring sovereignty over Formosa and the Pescadores to China had yet occurred; British officials reiterated this viewpoint in 1955, saying that "The Chinese Nationalists began a military occupation of Formosa and the Pescadores in 1945. However, these areas were under Japanese sovereignty until 1952" and that[Cairo Declaration] was couched in the form of a statement of intention, and as it was merely a statement of intention, it is merely binding in so far as it states the intent at that time, and therefore it cannot by itself transfer sovereignty.In March 1961, in a meeting of the House of Councillors of Japan, a councillor of the Japanese Communist Party brought up the notion that Taiwan had been returned to China according to the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Proclamation, and Japanese Instrument of Surrender. The then-Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs responded that:It was specified in Potsdam Proclamation that the articles in Cairo Declaration shall be carried out, and in accordance with Japanese Instrument of Surrender we announced that we would comply with Potsdam Proclamation. However, the so-called Japanese Instrument of Surrender possesses the nature of armistice and does not possess the nature of territorial disposition.[http://kokkai.ndl.go.jp/SENTAKU/sangiin/038/0514/03803150514015a.html . p. 19. . In April 1971, the U.S. Department of State spokesman stated in a press release that the US government regarded the status of Taiwan as unsettled, and that Cairo Declaration was a statement of purpose of the Allies and was never formally implemented or executed.
As late as December 2014, the US government still considered Taiwan's status an unsettled issue.
Other positions