Cultural differences, cultural ignorance and poor choice of words have sparked a number of misunderstandings and conflicts in Taiwan in recent days.
Last week, the foreign community in Taipei was alerted that a newly opened restaurant had hung pictures of a Nazi concentration camp on its walls to create a "jailhouse" atmosphere. Foreign wires picked up the story after seeing the initial report on this newspaper's Internet site, quickly raising an international furor. The restaurant's owner, aware of the gravity of the situation, hastily took the photos down. But the news was just another black mark on Taiwan's international record, already full of unflattering news of Taiwan as exporter of mercury tainted waste and the like. But the owner had no ill intentions. It was merely cultural ignorance that led him to commit a faux pax on an international scale.
But at least Taiwanese should understand the sensitivities of their own society. Not so.
Last Friday, the Taiwan Peace Foundation (
The Taiwan Peace Foundation slammed the Taipei City Cultural Affairs Bureau (文化局) for arbitrarily interpreting an administrative ruling and delivering an ultimatum, according to which the bureau will only sign a ten month contract with the foundation for management of the museum, on the grounds that the bureau must, "act in accordance with the Government Purchasing Law." This is not only a step backwards, but an insult to the foundation's hard work over the past three years.
On the surface the problem seems to be a lack of trust between the foundation and Cultural Affairs Bureau, but it is hard not to believe that differences of ethnic sentiment and ideology are also at work, particularly in the deplorable attitude of cultural superiority exhibited by the bureau's head.
Since taking up her post as director of the bureau last year, Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) has come into conflict with the Taipei City Council several times because of poor communication skills and a lack of trust. Lung's independent working style, weak personal skills and self-centered attitude have made her hard to work with. Worse still, her pride as an intellectual and, dare we say, her perception that as a mainlander she is culturally superior, show through her words and actions.
Lung, a long-time resident of Germany, understands the sensitivity surrounding the Holocaust. She once penned a criticism of President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) for lacking a "Chinese consciousness" and not admonishing Japan for the Nanjing Massacre as forcefully as China. Clearly Lung is aware of the importance of that massacre to Chinese. So was Lung ignorant or just faking it when she asked the director of the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum, "How do you plan to celebrate the 228 Incident this year?"
In dealing with such issues as the Holocaust or the Nanjing Massacre, we can only remember, we cannot "celebrate." So it is with the 228 Incident which traumatizes Taiwan to this day. If Lung's wording did not stem from her ignorance of Taiwan's history, then it must be an "intentional misunderstanding" based on her willful belittling of Taiwanese sensibilities.
Lung paints herself as a cosmopolitan figure, constantly announcing her intention to "bring international culture to Taiwan." Yet at the same time she is flagrantly ignorant of or insulting to Taiwan's culture and history. Can such a person be fit to hold the post of cultural affairs director? Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) must seriously consider if Lung is qualified to hold a position that oversees the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum. We think that leaving her in this position is an affront to the victims of the 228 Incident and their families. Remove her at once.
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) met with a delegation from the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California, to discuss strengthening US-Taiwan relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region. The delegation was led by James Ellis Jr, co-chair of the institution’s Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region project and former commander of the US Strategic Command. It also included former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, influential US academics and other former policymakers. Think tank diplomacy is an important component of Taiwan’s efforts to maintain high-level dialogue with other nations with which it does
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers