Bells toll on 520
We propose letting the bells of all churches and temples toll on “520,” the inauguration of the new president today.
Let the sound of bells reverberate throughout Taiwan, proclaiming emphatically the major break of the repression of successive foreign powers after 400 years.
The success has been genuinely appreciated by the free nations of the world. Taiwan is no longer an international orphan, instead she is now a mighty unsinkable carrier of democracy and freedom.
The sound of tolling bells will further galvanize the free Taiwanese united behind the new president, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), and the new government, establish a shiny free nation that will never be denied by any other country, for God’s sake.
The sound of tolling bells will pay homage to the tormented past immigrant and native forebears and console the intellectuals, the pride of Taiwan who perished with inhumane brutality in the systematic massacre of the 228 Incident 69 years ago.
The sound of tolling bells should soothe the unjustly imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). In prison, he was crucified for his leadership in advancing Taiwan’s democracy and almost perished under inhumane treatment.
The sound of tolling bells should remind Taiwanese that China, which was rejected by Taiwan’s immigrant forebears long ago, is still fabricating excuses to annex Taiwan by intimidation and the threat of violence.
Taiwan does not deserve decades of such humiliating uncivilized treatment. The fate of Tibet, Uighur and Hong Kong should be the dark reminders of being under the control of this deranged China, which is still unable to become a modern, civilized country a century after the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
Perhaps Taiwan’s achievement will help China to become a free democracy and eventually join the rank of free nations in which individual human rights are respected and enforced by law and order.
Shane Yeun, Joseph Tiun, Timothy Ann, Todd Kue and Thomas Tiun
Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York
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