Chiang a war criminal too
So, let me get this straight: Taiwan’s illegal Republic of China (ROC) government-in-exile’s President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is upset at Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for visiting the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, while the ROC and their Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government in Taiwan honor and worship former dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石)?
Does Ma — arguably the most unpopular president of any democratic nation in the history of modern democracy — truly think his opposition to Abe’s shrine visit will make people forget how many Taiwanese and Aborigines were tortured, raped and/or killed during the brutal tyranny of his idol Chiang and his generals?
Is it not time to impeach Ma and direct Taiwan back onto the path to true and real democracy?
Good people of Taiwan, awaken your slumbering spirits and start caring about the future of your gorgeous country!
Daniel Luthi
Greater Taichung
Simple questions
I would like a reply from officials, from leaders of the political parties in Taiwan.
What do you call a landmass, an area or an island: that has its own sovereign independent government; that has free and democratic elections; that has its own army, navy and air force; that has its own police force; that has its own flag and national anthem; and that has its own languages? Please answer with just one word, if you have the guts.
What do you call a president of such a landmass, area or island, who wants to give the place to a communist country free of charge? Just a one-word answer, please.
They are simple questions, so you should be able to give simple answers.
Gert Floor
Greater Taichung
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) met with a delegation from the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California, to discuss strengthening US-Taiwan relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region. The delegation was led by James Ellis Jr, co-chair of the institution’s Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region project and former commander of the US Strategic Command. It also included former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, influential US academics and other former policymakers. Think tank diplomacy is an important component of Taiwan’s efforts to maintain high-level dialogue with other nations with which it does
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers