At the London School of Economics (LSE) last Thursday, Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (
Tu, an LSE graduate, was invited to deliver a speech on educational reforms and the future of the nation. He was introduced as the education minister of Taiwan.
During his speech, Chinese students in the audience held up signs reading: "Stop cultural brainwashing" and "Taiwan is a part of China."
A shouting match between Chinese and Taiwanese students broke out. Tu was also challenged by Chinese students during a question and answer session following his speech.
They asked Tu whether he "acknowledged" Chinese culture and what he meant by "Taiwan's sovereignty" in his speech.
In view of the disruption and attempted provocation, Tu performed admirably. He did not avoid the questions.
Tu, poised and unperturbed, responded calmly, noting Taiwan's values, rights and freedoms. He emphasized to his audience that Taiwan, as a democratic country, would decide its own future according to the will of its people.
Taiwan needs more officials like Tu -- officials who are unyielding in stressful situations that are used to belittle the nation.
Also last week, President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen downplayed the event afterwards, saying it resulted from the general international confusion regarding Taiwan and China. Whatever the reason behind such confusion, Chen, as head of state, should have taken a more active gesture and lodged a protest.
It is the government's job to uphold the identity and dignity of the nation, both in word and deed.
After all, China is China and Taiwan is Taiwan. The two should not be confused, even if the majority of the international community purposely does so.
Taiwan is a sovereign state with its own government, elections, currency and territory. It negotiates its own treaties and has its own president.
Let Taiwanese keep Taiwan, and by the same token, let the Chinese keep China.
The international community talking so highly of democracy is being hypocritical by ignoring Taiwan's plight. Taiwan must demand respect from the international community and make its identity clear. If Taiwan does not work to counter international "confusion" itself, we cannot expect the situation to improve.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky said: "If you want to be respected by others, the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you."
The same applies to Taiwan's situation and international ignorance, indifference or confusion about Taiwan and China.
No one, especially officials, should give anyone the opportunity to insult Taiwan.
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
During the “426 rally” organized by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party under the slogan “fight green communism, resist dictatorship,” leaders from the two opposition parties framed it as a battle against an allegedly authoritarian administration led by President William Lai (賴清德). While criticism of the government can be a healthy expression of a vibrant, pluralistic society, and protests are quite common in Taiwan, the discourse of the 426 rally nonetheless betrayed troubling signs of collective amnesia. Specifically, the KMT, which imposed 38 years of martial law in Taiwan from 1949 to 1987, has never fully faced its
RSS