This study, conducted by the Postwar Okinawa “China Unit” Research Group, is based on historical materials from the United States and Okinawa as well as testimonies from Okinawan residents. Despite challenges in accessing records and artifacts from the Republic of China (ROC) vmilitary units that were once stationed in Okinawa, the team successfully interviewed Mr. Wang, a former ROC military police officer. These sources provide insights into US-China materiel exchanges and interactions with Okinawan locals after World War II. In September 1944, US advisors argued that surplus military goods could harm the domestic economy if reintroduced and that distributing them through allies would be more efficient. After the Battle of Okinawa in 1945, vast amounts of military supplies remained on the island. These surplus materials were later used to repay wartime debts owed to China, including costs related to US military operations on Chinese soil. The Okinawa Service Command (OSC) received a wide range of materiel—from vehicles and heavy equipment to small items like playing cards and toilet paper. Poor storage, theft, and smuggling frustrated Chinese receivers. In May 1949, just before Shanghai fell to Communist forces, the ROC’s Board of Supplies withdrew and relocated key units, including the OSC, to Kaohsiung, Taiwan. There, it was reorganized into the Mechanical Engineering Office, which helped rebuild the Kaohsiung fortress and harbor. After the board’s dissolution in 1952, the office became a state-owned entity in the 1960s. During the Cold War, the Heavy Equipment Division, predecessor of the Bureau of Engineering Services (hereafter, BES), also undertook major construction projects across Asia and in US-controlled Okinawa, though further research is needed to clarify the scope and impact of these activities.
Nakamura et al. (Thu,) studied this question.