A group called Ethnic Equality Action Alliance has suddenly appeared on Taiwan's political landscape. It was allegedly established on Monday by almost 100 people from cultural and academic circles and from social movements.
Representative figures from this group immediately launched an attack on the pan-green camp, accusing it of fomenting ethnic hostility more frequently than the pan-blue camp does. They said with a straight face that stronger ethnic groups are more inclined to bully weaker groups and to manipulate ethnic issues.
Such shallow discourse might deceive those who do not know Taiwan's history into believing that the ethnic Taiwanese and Hakka peoples, which together account for 85 percent of Taiwan's population, are strong ethnic groups that exercise control over government resources and state power, and that these groups have a tendency to manipulate ethnic sentiments. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Let's begin with Taipei City. Without the support of the majority ethnic Taiwanese and Hakka peoples, how could Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
If politicians from the Democratic Progressive Party and Taiwan Solidarity Union were manipulators of ethnic sentiment, neither Lien Chan (
The fact that the ethnic Taiwanese and Hakka peoples have no strong ethnic consciousness couldn't be more obvious. To the contrary, the majority ethnic Taiwanese people suffered ruthless political suppression in the past. Soon after arriving in Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek's (
For example, the KMT government deliberately favored the Hakka people, Taiwan's second-largest ethnic group, by recruiting large numbers of Hakkas to work in the rail and postal services, thereby crowding out the ethnic Taiwanese people who had worked in those services since the Japanese era.
This KMT action is also one of the primary reasons that Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, which have large concentrations of Hakka people, remain pro-blue to this day.
The KMT's manipulation of ethnicity also extended to the civil service exams. Until the mid-1980s, quota guarantees were given to mainlanders taking the exams. The majority Taiwanese had to put up with such discrimination. This is also why a majority of government employees are pro-blue today.
It is obvious which political party has a history of manipulating ethnic issues to gain political benefit. The examples mentioned above are only the tip of the iceberg.
With election time upon us, the pan-blue camp is gathering pro-unification people, along with some liberals who do not understand the pan-blues' political motives, to put on hypocritical moral masks and help block the Taiwanese pesople from settling accounts -- so that the misdeeds committed by the pan-blue camp in the past do not come back to harm the pan-blues in today's democratic Taiwan.
This is why we hear thieves accusing others of theft at election time. This is far from being a real call to conscience.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.