India does not celebrate the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II of England. Nor does Algeria have street parties on July 14. Nations emerging from the shadow of colonial tutelage tend not to have warm fuzzy feelings for the high days and holidays of their former masters. So it is interesting that, if the Republic of China (ROC) is dead, as former president Lee Teng-hui (
On Saturday Lee gave an impassioned speech about why Taiwan had to change its name from the Republic of China to Taiwan. His reasons were twofold.
First, he said, most countries and their inhabitants had never heard of the Republic of China or, if they had, they believed it ceased to be in 1949. That the Chiang Kai-shek (
Irredentism is not regarded as a desirable trait in countries these days and a country that in its very name seems to suggest implacable irredentism is hardly showing its best face in public.
Lee's second reason was the rather obvious one that it is hard for Taiwanese to work for the betterment of their country when there is so much ambiguity over what that country actually is. Why should a Taiwanese care about keeping assets or paying taxes in Taiwan for its benefit when half the political spectrum is occupied by parties that would hand over to Beijing any benefits that have accrued at the earliest opportunity? Just as Markus Wolfe, the East German spymaster, at his treason trial asked which country it was that he was supposed to have betrayed -- since the county he worked for no longer existed and the country prosecuting him was a recognized enemy -- any Taiwanese might ask which country he is supposed to be loyal to. A particularly bitter irony here is that those who would in ordinary circumstances be the greatest of patriots were "Taiwan" a real state are exactly the ones preparing to go into exile if the blue camp wins the presidential election -- with the inevitable disastrous consequences for Taiwan's autonomy.
We agree with Lee about the necessity of a name change. But we are well aware that this is something not easily brought about. That is no reason, of course, to avoid trying. But there are some easier targets that contribute to Taiwan's identity confusion that might be attended to first. Coming up, in fact, is one of the biggest -- the absurdity of Double Ten Day. Why should the people of Taiwan celebrate something that only has meaning to their mainland Chinese colonial oppressors. Remember, Taiwan was already a Japanese colony in 1911, and it has never, except in KMT mythology, been returned to Chinese sovereignty. Why should Taiwanese celebrate something that happened in a foreign country as their national day? Obviously no reason at all.
So if, according to Lee, President Chen Shui-bian (
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
RSS