80 Years after the War: The National and Regional Politics of World War Two Commemoration in East Asia

Eighty years after the end of the Second World War, its contested memory continues to shape East Asian politics and diplomacy. Japan’s relations with China and Korea remain marked by contested memories of wartime aggression and colonialism, and these disputes over history also affect power competition in Northeast Asia and the role of the United States in the region. While enjoying smoother relations with Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries equally have their own narratives of World War Two that shape their, identity, their politics and their international relations. History is subsumed by broader strategic and economic concerns, which are themselves influenced by ongoing narrative contests over history.

This workshop brings together scholars from the UK and Japan with diverse regional expertise to reflect on the enduring significance of wartime history and memory in East Asia. By engaging with different perspectives, the roundtable seeks to shed light on how interpretations of the past continue to affect regional relations today, discuss what this means for the future of the East Asian international order, and deepen understanding of the relationship between memories of the past and politics more broadly.

It aims to address the following questions:

1. How are East Asian countries commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII? Which political symbols and narratives are being foregrounded?

2. What are the different competing narratives at national and regional levels? How are national and regional politics shaped by these competitions and how do they shape the approaches to history?

3. How might great-power competition in the region complicate both historical remembrance and the pursuit of reconciliation?