Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, condemned the attempts to distort history by the island's Democratic Progressive Party authorities.

"Denying the CPC's central role in the war is a betrayal of the martyrs and the Chinese nation," she said. "It exposes their scheme to promote 'Taiwan independence' separatism by inciting cross-Strait confrontation."

The recent inclusion of the "Taiwan Volunteer Corps Archives" in China's national documentary heritage list in June has brought cross-Strait attention to this history. The 625 original records — including telegrams, statistical charts, photographs, newspapers and oral histories — provide irrefutable evidence of the volunteers' activities from 1937 to 1946.

Zhu said, "The original documents strongly prove that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, and they demonstrate the objective fact that people on both sides of the Strait are connected by blood and share a common destiny."

Wang Yanghong, granddaughter of a member of the Taiwan volunteer corps, donated her grandfather's service certificate and family letters to the Fujian archives authority. While visiting the archives exhibition in Fuzhou over the weekend, she surprisingly found a previously unknown document listing names of Taiwan compatriots signing up to join the forces in 1939, including her great-grandfather, grandfather and granduncle.

"This is the first time I've seen such a complete name list," said Wang, who immediately photographed it to share with her family.

Contact the writers at zhangyi1@chinadaily.com.cn