Just as President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration is about to celebrate the signing of an historic trade agreement with China, Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) once again managed to draw attention to himself.
Yaung’s latest faux pas — made while he was in the US — involved publicly expressing his intense dislike of Koreans, who he said had copied Taiwan’s health system but would never admit doing so.
Not only were such comments inappropriate for a public official, they also reflected a view propagated by an increasingly nationalist China. In other words, not only was our health minister making a fool of himself while abroad, he was also spewing Chinese propaganda.
This incident is unlikely to be well received by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which is facing a crisis in popularity ahead of important municipal elections in November. At a time when it is striving to rebuild its credibility and mend fences with countries supposedly alienated by the previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration, Yaung’s remarks can only make that task more onerous.
For the DPP, Yaung’s lack of discretion is a godsend, providing additional ammunition as it prepares to hold a mass rally in Taipei to oppose the controversial economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA).
The Ma administration has a week to distance itself from Yaung’s insulting rhetoric. Should it remain silent on the matter, we could only conclude that it condones such ugly Chinese nationalism and Yaung could well be added to the list of things to be targeted during the protests on Saturday.
Supporters of Taiwan not only have the responsibility to ensure the nation’s survival, but to protect its image abroad by displaying maturity, openness and respect for differences. The importance of distancing ourselves from the racism espoused by Yaung cannot be overstated, not only because it represents an effort to combat “Han” chauvinism, but also because it highlights the type of maturity that the world expects from a democracy.
Regardless of who is in power, Taiwan is in no position to insult other nations through its officials — especially through a crass form of nationalism for which Chinese officials have often been ridiculed. If we fail to condemn this type of behavior, we are no better than the Chinese officials we laugh at for their lack of tact.
Ultimately, a politician’s ability to conduct himself or herself properly serves as an indicator of their ability to oversee national policies. As Yaung is closely involved in managing the debilitated National Health Insurance (NHI) program — one that should be the envy of many countries but that is becoming increasingly unsustainable — his inability to behave like a professional politician raises questions about his qualifications. Are those of us who contribute to the NHI plan and rely on it in times of need really willing to trust someone who engages in such open bigotry to steer the nation’s health program in the right direction?
During the protest on Saturday, let’s hope that among all the placards criticizing the Ma administration and opposing an ECFA that is being forced on us, there will also be a few that give voice to the respect and openness of mind and spirit that far better represent the feelings of Taiwanese people than the racist comments of our health minister.
We love Taiwan and we love South Korea.
The US Senate’s passage of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which urges Taiwan’s inclusion in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise and allocates US$1 billion in military aid, marks yet another milestone in Washington’s growing support for Taipei. On paper, it reflects the steadiness of US commitment, but beneath this show of solidarity lies contradiction. While the US Congress builds a stable, bipartisan architecture of deterrence, US President Donald Trump repeatedly undercuts it through erratic decisions and transactional diplomacy. This dissonance not only weakens the US’ credibility abroad — it also fractures public trust within Taiwan. For decades,
In 1976, the Gang of Four was ousted. The Gang of Four was a leftist political group comprising Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members: Jiang Qing (江青), its leading figure and Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) last wife; Zhang Chunqiao (張春橋); Yao Wenyuan (姚文元); and Wang Hongwen (王洪文). The four wielded supreme power during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but when Mao died, they were overthrown and charged with crimes against China in what was in essence a political coup of the right against the left. The same type of thing might be happening again as the CCP has expelled nine top generals. Rather than a
Taiwan Retrocession Day is observed on Oct. 25 every year. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government removed it from the list of annual holidays immediately following the first successful transition of power in 2000, but the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led opposition reinstated it this year. For ideological reasons, it has been something of a political football in the democratic era. This year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) designated yesterday as “Commemoration Day of Taiwan’s Restoration,” turning the event into a conceptual staging post for its “restoration” to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Mainland Affairs Council on Friday criticized
The topic of increased intergenerational conflict has been making headlines in the past few months, showcasing a problem that would only grow as Taiwan approaches “super-aged society” status. A striking example of that tension erupted on the Taipei MRT late last month, when an apparently able-bodied passenger kicked a 73-year-old woman across the width of the carriage. The septuagenarian had berated and hit the young commuter with her bag for sitting in a priority seat, despite regular seats being available. A video of the incident went viral online. Altercations over the yielding of MRT seats are not common, but they are
RSS