No to anthem in schools
The recent debate over the compulsory singing of the national anthem in schools reminds me of two fond memories.
One is when the anthem had to be sung in movie theaters before any movie. When I first went to see a movie here in the early 1990s, I was quite surprised at the fact that everybody, young and old, stood up to sing it. I refused, and remained seated eating my popcorn with my Taiwanese girlfriend, who was quite scared at the possible reaction of everyone around us. She was right. One guy behind me tried to punch me in the nose, yelling out how disrespectful I was of his country and da da da.
This immediately brought up another memory. When I was invited as a visiting fellow in one of Munich’s best institutions on public health, I was at first living at my professor’s house. He was the head of the institute. His teenage son and I soon became good friends.
One day, I asked him what his most memorable experience was when he did a one-year stint studying in the US. He said “the first day in school.”
What happened is that the school, like many in the US, also requested the singing of the Star Spangled Banner at the beginning of the school day. He, like me, refused to stand up and sing. The teacher could not try to beat him up, like my fellow moviegoer tried with me. He was a foreign student with a reputed father. Instead, the teacher asked him to explain to the class why he wouldn’t at least stand up like the others, thinking maybe the poor kid didn’t know the words of the Star Spangled Banner.
His reply was simply this: “Hitler got us in Germany to do this hyper-nationalistic stuff. I can’t agree with this.”
Wise kid. Is there a need for Taiwan to return to the bad habits of the past?
BORIS VOYER
Taipei
Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan in late February. During their various meetings with Taiwan’s leaders, this delegation never missed an opportunity to emphasize the strength of their cross-party consensus on issues relating to Taiwan and China. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Their instruction upon taking the reins of the committee was to preserve China issues as a last bastion of bipartisanship in an otherwise deeply divided Washington. They have largely upheld their pledge. But in doing so, they have performed the
It is well known that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ambition is to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by unification of Taiwan, either peacefully or by force. The peaceful option has virtually gone out of the window with the last presidential elections in Taiwan. Taiwanese, especially the youth, are resolved not to be part of China. With time, this resolve has grown politically stronger. It leaves China with reunification by force as the default option. Everyone tells me how and when mighty China would invade and overpower tiny Taiwan. However, I have rarely been told that Taiwan could be defended to
It should have been Maestro’s night. It is hard to envision a film more Oscar-friendly than Bradley Cooper’s exploration of the life and loves of famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. It was a prestige biopic, a longtime route to acting trophies and more (see Darkest Hour, Lincoln, and Milk). The film was a music biopic, a subgenre with an even richer history of award-winning films such as Ray, Walk the Line and Bohemian Rhapsody. What is more, it was the passion project of cowriter, producer, director and actor Bradley Cooper. That is the kind of multitasking -for-his-art overachievement that Oscar
Chinese villages are being built in the disputed zone between Bhutan and China. Last month, Chinese settlers, holding photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), moved into their new homes on land that was not Xi’s to give. These residents are part of the Chinese government’s resettlement program, relocating Tibetan families into the territory China claims. China shares land borders with 15 countries and sea borders with eight, and is involved in many disputes. Land disputes include the ones with Bhutan (Doklam plateau), India (Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin) and Nepal (near Dolakha and Solukhumbu districts). Maritime disputes in the South China