Recently, some have launched a signature petition to name National Highway No. 3 the Chiang Wei-shui (
Who is Chiang? What is his position in Taiwan's history?
During the more than 50 years of Japanese colonial rule, successive anti-Japanese social movements took place in Taiwan. In 1921, Chiang united with students and social leaders and established the Taiwan Culture Association to promote cultural movements. The association later became the base of many nationalist and social movements.
The association had branch offices in almost every major city and township. Among its activities, speeches on cultural affairs were perhaps the most important. Statistics show that a total of 230,000 Taiwanese attended such speeches nationwide in 1925 and 1926. That was then 8 percent of Taiwan's population of 3 million. The association's cultural activities were like a thorn in the side of the Japanese authorities.
In 1927, the association split into factions on the left and right. The left controlled the association, and so Chiang and some other members jointly founded the Taiwan People's Party, which was the first modern political party in Taiwan's history. The party reached out to the international community and drew the world's attention to the Japanese government's opium policy and the Wushe Incident -- the 1930 Japanese massacre of Aborigines.
Chiang also formed the Taiwan Labor Alliance in 1928 to unify labor movements nationwide. He often encouraged laborers with a slogan: "Compatriots must unite; unity is power." As many as 65 labor groups and over 10,000 members joined the alliance, making it the biggest labor organization under Japanese rule. It also launched several large labor movements, and mobilized huge pressure on Japanese capitalists.
Chiang had a special characteristic: he did not demand credit for what he did. For example, although he actively pushed for the establishment of the Taiwan Culture Association, it was Lin Hsien-tang (
Unfortunately, most people have forgotten his place in history due to the "education" of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). We have also forgotten Chiang's name, as we have been schooled to think only of Sun and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正).
Since the idea to name the national highway after Chiang Wei-shui was put forward, some pro-unification figures -- including Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- have already signed the petition. In light of the political standoff between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, it's rare and precious that people from the both sides are willing to honor Chiang.
To be sure, when we commemorate Chiang today, it does not mean that we agree with every single one of his concepts and actions in the past. For instance, pro-independence activist Su Beng (
Since we already have a Sun Yat-sen Freeway, why can't we have a Chiang Wei-shui Freeway too? Perhaps the modest Chiang Wei-shui himself would not care about having a freeway named after him. But through this gesture, we can not only highlight his achievements, but also do justice to the nation's history.
Lee Shiao-feng is a professor in the General Education Center of Shih Hsin University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), former chairman of Broadcasting Corp of China and leader of the “blue fighters,” recently announced that he had canned his trip to east Africa, and he would stay in Taiwan for the recall vote on Saturday. He added that he hoped “his friends in the blue camp would follow his lead.” His statement is quite interesting for a few reasons. Jaw had been criticized following media reports that he would be traveling in east Africa during the recall vote. While he decided to stay in Taiwan after drawing a lot of flak, his hesitation says it all: If
When Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) first suggested a mass recall of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators, the Taipei Times called the idea “not only absurd, but also deeply undemocratic” (“Lai’s speech and legislative chaos,” Jan. 6, page 8). In a subsequent editorial (“Recall chaos plays into KMT hands,” Jan. 9, page 8), the paper wrote that his suggestion was not a solution, and that if it failed, it would exacerbate the enmity between the parties and lead to a cascade of revenge recalls. The danger came from having the DPP orchestrate a mass recall. As it transpired,
Elbridge Colby, America’s Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is the most influential voice on defense strategy in the Second Trump Administration. For insight into his thinking, one could do no better than read his thoughts on the defense of Taiwan which he gathered in a book he wrote in 2021. The Strategy of Denial, is his contemplation of China’s rising hegemony in Asia and on how to deter China from invading Taiwan. Allowing China to absorb Taiwan, he wrote, would open the entire Indo-Pacific region to Chinese preeminence and result in a power transition that would place America’s prosperity
All 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), formerly of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), survived recall elections against them on Saturday, in a massive loss to the unprecedented mass recall movement, as well as to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that backed it. The outcome has surprised many, as most analysts expected that at least a few legislators would be ousted. Over the past few months, dedicated and passionate civic groups gathered more than 1 million signatures to recall KMT lawmakers, an extraordinary achievement that many believed would be enough to remove at
RSS