What the TNP really means
Your editorial questions the political wisdom of the Taiwanese National Party (TNP) in advocating the concept of “expelling the Chinese and protecting Taiwan (驅逐赤藍，守護台灣)” (“The limits of exclusion,” July 12, page 8). The correct translation of the slogan in my speech should actually be “Expel Chilan, Protect Taiwan,” which is modeled on a slogan advocated by Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) in the revolution he led against the Qing dynasty.
The meaning of this slogan is that it is necessary to expel the Chilan from power to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty. Therefore, I would like to explain the TNP definition of the term Chilan.
Before doing this, we first need to clarify certain other definitions and statements.
First, the TNP defines -Chinese as those people who are citizens of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Therefore, the majority of residents in Taiwan are not Chinese.
Second, the TNP believes that the exiled government of the Republic of China (ROC) has no legitimacy to rule Taiwan, and third, neither China nor the ROC has sovereignty over Taiwan in international law.
To promote Taiwanese nationalism, the TNP divides all permanent residents into two categories, Taiwanese and Chilan.
Chilan are those individuals and their descendants who took shelter in Taiwan after the Chinese Communist Party’s 1949 victory in the civil war and remain in Taiwan, yet continue to identify themselves as Chinese.
Under this definition, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is a Chilan, not a Taiwanese, nor a Chinese, unless he holds a passport issued by the PRC. It is important to identify this group with an appropriate name as this unique group of people maintains prestige and enjoys power in almost all areas of ROC authority in Taiwan. However, their prestige and power were obtained and consolidated by killing an entire generation of the Taiwanese elite followed by decades of government terror, just like the Nazis in Poland and the Bolsheviks in the Baltic States.
The reality is that there is an even stronger hatred in Taiwan toward those Chilan who maintain that Taiwan is part of China. This has become even more evident since Ma took power in 2008. As a result, Taiwanese have condemned the dishonest and abusive acts of Chilan as low Chinese behavior on many occasions.
The TNP believes that ordinary Chinese should not be held responsible for the evil conduct of the Chilan in selling out Taiwan’s sovereignty. Therefore, it is important to distinguish Chinese from Chilan.
Since the Chilan insist they are Chinese and that Taiwan is a part of China, the TNP advocates that no Chilan should be allowed to hold a public position in Taiwan with any meaningful authority or power. This is the meaning of “expelling Chilan [from power].”
TED LAU
Chief consultant,
Taiwanese National Party
In the event of a war with China, Taiwan has some surprisingly tough defenses that could make it as difficult to tackle as a porcupine: A shoreline dotted with swamps, rocks and concrete barriers; conscription for all adult men; highways and airports that are built to double as hardened combat facilities. This porcupine has a soft underbelly, though, and the war in Iran is exposing it: energy. About 39,000 ships dock at Taiwan’s ports each year, more than the 30,000 that transit the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of their inbound tonnage is coal, oil, refined fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG),
To counter the CCP’s escalating threats, Taiwan must build a national consensus and demonstrate the capability and the will to fight. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) often leans on a seductive mantra to soften its threats, such as “Chinese do not kill Chinese.” The slogan is designed to frame territorial conquest (annexation) as a domestic family matter. A look at the historical ledger reveals a different truth. For the CCP, being labeled “family” has never been a guarantee of safety; it has been the primary prerequisite for state-sanctioned slaughter. From the forced starvation of 150,000 civilians at the Siege of Changchun
The two major opposition parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), jointly announced on Tuesday last week that former TPP lawmaker Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) would be their joint candidate for Chiayi mayor, following polling conducted earlier this month. It is the first case of blue-white (KMT-TPP) cooperation in selecting a joint candidate under an agreement signed by their chairpersons last month. KMT and TPP supporters have blamed their 2024 presidential election loss on failing to decide on a joint candidate, which ended in a dramatic breakdown with participants pointing fingers, calling polls unfair, sobbing and walking
In recent weeks, Taiwan has witnessed a surge of public anxiety over the possible introduction of Indian migrant workers. What began as a policy signal from the Ministry of Labor quickly escalated into a broader controversy. Petitions gathered thousands of signatures within days, political figures issued strong warnings, and social media became saturated with concerns about public safety and social stability. At first glance, this appears to be a straightforward policy question: Should Taiwan introduce Indian migrant workers or not? However, this framing is misleading. The current debate is not fundamentally about India. It is about Taiwan’s labor system, its
RSS