Taiwan Alarmed by Russian Screening of Soviet-Era Anti-Japan Film in Taipei

Taiwan's government has raised concerns over a closed-door screening of an 81-year-old Soviet documentary hosted by Russian officials in Taipei, viewing it as part of an effort by Moscow and Beijing to promote a narrative of renewed Japanese militarism.

Around 20 guests from academic, media, business and other public-facing circles were invited to the event last week at the Russian office in a downtown Taipei building. Staff, including deputy representative Sergey Chudodeev, turned away reporters, describing it as invitation-only.

The film, a 1945 black-and-white documentary titled "The Defeat of Militarist Japan", was promoted by the Russian office on Facebook under the Chinese title "Smashing Militarist Japan". It features footage of the Soviet offensive in Japanese-occupied Manchuria and the Kuril Islands, with narration condemning what it calls the "robber philosophy of the divine superiority of the Japanese race" and images of Japanese atrocities against Chinese civilians.

After the screening, Russian representative Pavel Lapin said the office hoped to organise similar events in future, according to a person who attended.

Taiwan's National Security Council, the government's top security and counter-intelligence body, said it was "closely monitoring" Chinese-Russian military and "cognitive warfare" cooperation. It accused the two countries of attempting to amplify specific topics and distort historical facts and political issues.

Taiwanese officials said Russia presented a distinct challenge, because Moscow could approach contacts on the island with less immediate legal scrutiny than Chinese officials, whose activities fall squarely under Taiwan's security laws. The island's foreign ministry said it respected lawful exchanges but added that activities held by the Russian office should respect historical facts and conform to universal values such as democracy and freedom.

The screening touches a sensitive area for Taiwan, where free speech is constitutionally protected but laws including the 2019 Anti-Infiltration Act are aimed at preventing hostile foreign forces — chiefly China — from covertly influencing politics. No police were present outside the event and no attempt was made to shut it down.

The Russian office said in a Facebook post that the Soviet Union and the Chinese people suffered the heaviest casualties in the war, and that their contributions to defeating German fascism and Japanese militarism were indisputable. Russia's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

China's foreign ministry said it was unaware of the screening, adding that the Allied powers, including China, Russia and the United States, had defeated Japanese militarism and that upholding a correct historical view of World War Two was a shared responsibility of the international community. China's Taiwan Affairs Office dismissed Taiwan's concerns as "another ploy to manipulate anti-China sentiment for political gain".

The episode comes amid a diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo, triggered after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested last year that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could prompt a Japanese military response. Beijing has repeatedly warned that Japan is seeking a return to its aggressive past.

In August, China and Russia issued a joint statement warning against remilitarisation in the Asia-Pacific. Russian diplomats in Taipei have kept a low profile since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and Taiwan has been on Russia's "unfriendly" list since it joined Western sanctions. Senior Russian officials have openly backed China's claims over the democratically governed island.

Moscow and Tokyo also remain locked in a long-running dispute over four Kuril Islands seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War Two. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited one of them last month, drawing condemnation from Japan.