President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) recently defended his China policies by asserting that they didn’t jeopardize Taiwan’s sovereignty and that Taiwan’s participation at the World Health Assembly (WHA) was the result of a “diplomatic truce.” However, Taiwan’s participation at the WHA is a typical example of how Taiwan’s sovereignty is being chipped away.
With the WHO Web site referring to Taiwan as “China (Province of Taiwan),” the public needs to ask whether Taiwan’s sovereignty is really secure. In order to participate in the WHA, the government did not bat an eyelid at compromising Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and former presidents Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) could have gained entry for Taiwan into the WHA, but they did not. The only difference between Ma and the previous administration is a willingness to agree with the “one China” framework. Ma did what former presidents were not willing to do and called it an “ice-breaking” achievement. However, breaking the ice in this case is not worth bragging about.
Accepting Taiwan’s status as a province of China is tantamount to recognizing a new “status quo” that Taiwan belongs to China. By accepting this, China will consider any future president who wishes to change that status as a troublemaker, and the US will also agree with this viewpoint.
By that time, China will have the means to resort to force against Taiwan. If Ma feels “wronged” about Taiwan losing its dignity, why doesn’t the administration protest at international occasions by denying that Taiwan is a province of China? It is highly unlikely that China would have kicked Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) out of the WHA because it would not want to create an international scene.
When Yeh arrived in Geneva, he asked to try out his seat at the venue beforehand. A clown of an official like this is even more embarrassing than former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (�?}), who participated in cross-strait talks with an air of triumph without knowing that he had already become a pawn in China’s “united front” tactics. Yeh did not care that Taiwanese journalists were issued press passes that displayed an ambiguous national status.
Yeh likes to brag about his achievements and patriotism. However, his major achievement during the SARS outbreak at the Heping Branch of the Taipei City Hospital in 2003 was to protect Ma. So, it is now Ma’s turn to protect his servant. None of this has anything to do with patriotism. Even if they claim love for Taiwan, what they really mean is they love Taiwan as part of China. The Taiwanese students who spoke out against Yeh showed more patriotism than Ma and the minister. Not only did they heckle Yeh, but they also criticized WHO Director-General Margaret Chan (陳馮富珍), who is from “Hong Kong, China,” for accepting Chinese government payments to serve as its puppet at the WHO.
Because Ma and Yeh adhere to the “Taiwan, China” principle, they do not have the courage to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty, nor did they condemn China for covering up the SARS outbreak that took numerous lives back in 2003.
It is clear that Taiwan’s sovereignty has been eroded, but our government is still bragging about its achievements. This reminds me of the spirit of victory of “Ah Q,” depicted by Chinese writer Lu Xun (魯迅). I regret this “spirit” because it is why Taiwan is in such a mess.
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
RSS