At a Victory in Europe Day (VE Day) commemoration event, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) stressed that Taiwan and Europe face a shared threat from rising totalitarian powers, urging that the lessons of history must not be forgotten as the world honors the peace secured through World War II.
On Thursday, the Foreign Ministry hosted the “80th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony of Victory in Europe” at the Taipei Guest House. President Lai, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), European Economic and Trade Office Director Lutz Gullner, British Office Taipei Representative Ruth Bradley-Jones, and several other European envoys attended the ceremony.
President Lai noted that this marked Taiwan’s first formal commemoration of VE Day, symbolizing the island’s deepening connection with the international community. He said the event carried three significant meanings: First, that the Allied victory in WWII was rooted in global unity against aggression and a shared pursuit of peace. Second, the postwar era has shown democracy, free markets, and respect for human rights to be the pillars of a prosperous civilization. Third, that safeguarding peace requires confronting aggression—recalling how complacency helped fuel the war’s outbreak in Europe.
Gullner offered a brief overview of the five-year European conflict and pointed to the Weimar Republic’s weak democracy as a factor in the Nazi rise. He emphasized the responsibility to ensure such history does not repeat.
Bradley-Jones paid tribute to those who sacrificed for peace and underscored the importance of protecting democratic freedoms for generations to come.