On Nov. 12, the birthday of "founding father" Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), some people closely attached to the pan-blue camp, after paying their respects at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, laid portraits of Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) and Exam-ination Yuan member Lin Yu-ti (林玉体) on the ground and pelted them with eggs.
On the same day, a bomb was placed near the Ministry of Education, and an old soldier cut his throat in protest over the recent dispute about ending Sun's status as "founding father."
Lin and Tu's irresponsibly voiced proposals to remove questions about China's history and geography from the entry-level national civil service examinations and to modify senior high-school history materials to separate the history of Taiwan from that of China have sparked a conflagration in the pan-blue camp and made high-ranking pan-green officials anxious.
In political reality, Taiwan and China are two hostile powers, but unlike most enemies, this is because China regards Taiwan as part of its territory, a status Tai-wan rejects. In this situation, talking about sovereignty or cultural independence in Taiwan is inevitable, especially as the government elected by its people has sufficient power to govern itself, whereas China has no jurisdiction over Taiwan at all.
China's belief that talk in Taiwan of sovereignty and cultural independence is a slippery slope to independence is used as its rationale to criticize and threaten Taiwan.
That Taiwan is a sovereign and independent state is a fact, and that its culture has its developmental uniqueness is also widely recognized. But Taiwan has been profoundly influenced by Chinese culture. Pro-independence people, and indeed all Taiwanese, read Chinese, speak Chinese, eat Chinese food and may also take Chinese traditional medicine.
Cultural and political independence should be dealt with separately, but given an inability to demand political indepen-dence, some people instead make a big fuss over cultural independence. Superficially, this might seem to be aiding Taiwan independence, but in reality, it makes the whole situation worse.
If you say that the nation's "founding father" is a foreigner, would you also regard Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan, (
And what about deities such as Matzu, Kuankung (the god of war) and even the Jade Emperor himself? Are they from the enemy camp as well?
As for the issue of the civil service exams, since these are national tests, there certainly is a question over the proportion of Chinese and Taiwanese history and geography included, for this relates directly to a country's sovereignty and independence. Since Taiwan is not capable of ruling China, Chinese history and geography should not be associated with our nation.
There was a compromise proposal to remove history and geography from the examination, but some pro-independence Examination Yuan members still insist on a Taiwan nation and argue that therefore national history and geography examinations should not be abolished.
Every country's educational system should give its students knowledge of their country, and textbooks should reinforce national consciousness. But Taiwan independence is still not yet a fact, and there are still major obstacles to independence.
Strongly emphasizing independence might go beyond political reality and might not only be difficult to implement, but cause controversy or lead to disaster.
While the political conflict among different ethnic groups has been aggravated since the presidential election earlier this year, the controversies brought by Tu and Lin have exacerbated the situation. That the words of an Examination Yuan member and a minister were able to cause such a ruckus suggests that there are major problems in the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) policy-making.
Not only did the DPP not plan ahead but it lacked a clear policy; consequently, the party did not know how to handle the situation.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
President Chen Shui-bian (
What is more troublesome is that reckless statements about independence often lead to controversies, even as our enemy on the other side of the Taiwan Strait watches covetously.
These pro-independence people have valor but lack strategy. The ruling party still lacks both solutions and a strategy. This is the greatest crisis of our nation's politics today.
Chiu Hei-yuan is a researcher in the Sun Yat-sen Institute for Social Sciences and Philosophy at Academia Sinica.
TRANSLATED BY LIN YA-TI
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
They did it again. For the whole world to see: an image of a Taiwan flag crushed by an industrial press, and the horrifying warning that “it’s closer than you think.” All with the seal of authenticity that only a reputable international media outlet can give. The Economist turned what looks like a pastiche of a poster for a grim horror movie into a truth everyone can digest, accept, and use to support exactly the opinion China wants you to have: It is over and done, Taiwan is doomed. Four years after inaccurately naming Taiwan the most dangerous place on
Wherever one looks, the United States is ceding ground to China. From foreign aid to foreign trade, and from reorganizations to organizational guidance, the Trump administration has embarked on a stunning effort to hobble itself in grappling with what his own secretary of state calls “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.” The problems start at the Department of State. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asserted that “it’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power” and that the world has returned to multipolarity, with “multi-great powers in different parts of the
President William Lai (賴清德) recently attended an event in Taipei marking the end of World War II in Europe, emphasizing in his speech: “Using force to invade another country is an unjust act and will ultimately fail.” In just a few words, he captured the core values of the postwar international order and reminded us again: History is not just for reflection, but serves as a warning for the present. From a broad historical perspective, his statement carries weight. For centuries, international relations operated under the law of the jungle — where the strong dominated and the weak were constrained. That
RSS