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 (
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
RSS