As a matter of fact, it is only the pan-green camp that is brave enough to display the national flag and say that Taiwan is an independent, sovereign state that is not subordinate to China. They do not succumb to Chinese pressure. When Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) referred to Ma as “our president” during her visit to China to promote the World Games, she did better than any pan-blue government official. The KMT will never cross the bottom line set by China — that Taiwan belongs to China.
Many have been moved by the sight of Yang Hui-ju (楊蕙如) waving a national flag cheering for Taiwanese teams at sports events round the world. Because of this, she was refused entry to China when she was going to cheer for the Taiwanese baseball team at the Olympic Games last year. Last November, when Chinese envoy Chen Yun-lin (陳雲林) visited Taiwan, the government blasted pan-green supporters for carrying the national flag during protests. This highlights the difference between the pan-blue and the pan-green camps. Pan-green supporters now openly wave the national flag because it normally disappears when China makes an appearance. This will continue to be the case because the pan-blue camp dares not cross the line drawn by China for the sake of “cross-strait harmony.”
Hsu Chien-jung is a doctoral candidate at Monash University, Australia.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
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