Since President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inaugural address on May 20 last year, the media have focused on whether she sings the national anthem at public occasions. There is probably no other nation in the world where the question of whether the president sings the national anthem is an issue. In normal democracies, the president will of course sing the national anthem, and if they did not, the news media would soon find out why.
The problem is that in Taiwan, the so-called “national anthem” is not a national anthem at all, it is the anthem of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). The only thing the media care about is whether Tsai sings along — in particular the line “the foundation of our party” — but they do not care whether it is truly a national anthem. If it is not, then what does it matter if one sings it?
It is bizarre to want a president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to sing the KMT’s anthem.
To put an end to media speculation, Tsai sings the “national anthem,” but she could refuse to do so and be within her rights to tell people that “this is not a national anthem, it is the KMT’s anthem.”
However, that would not be in line with Tsai’s personality.
The “national anthem” was written by Republic of China (ROC) founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) in 1924 to be used for instructional purposes at the Whampoa Military Academy.
In 1929, the KMT adopted the piece as its anthem, and on March 13 that year, the party leadership decided to temporarily use it as national anthem until a formal national anthem was written. This temporary state continued as the KMT fled to Taiwan and it continues to this day.
We can leave the obscure lyrics aside, but more frustratingly, while the KMT overstepped the bounds in turning its anthem into a national anthem, Taiwan was then a Japanese colony that was not even part of the ROC. Today, the only use for the KMT’s anthem is to force Taiwanese, who were never a part of the founding of the ROC, to sing along and treat it as their national anthem.
The national anthem that Taiwanese sing is the product of a place that Taiwan was not a part of.
This has to be a political joke that makes the whole world laugh. The joke is of international proportions, unable to separate party from nation. Distinguishing fact from falsehood is of no interest to the media — all they care about is whether Tsai sings the “national anthem.” This is a matter of utter confusion and a failure to tell right from wrong.
When A-mei (Chang Hui-mei, 張惠妹) sang the “national anthem” at former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) inauguration in 2000, she was added to the list of pro-Taiwanese independence artists by the authorities in Beijing and banned from performing in China. What a joke — labeling someone pro-Taiwanese independence for singing the Whampoa Military Academy anthem.
If we really want to promote transitional justice, the temporary use of the KMT’s anthem as national anthem should have ended long ago.
Since Tsai has made it clear that she respects the ROC, a formal ROC anthem should be created and the whole nation should be invited to submit lyrics and melody.
Doing so would also help build a national consensus.
With an official national anthem, the conflict arising from non-KMT members refusing to sing the party’s anthem could be avoided. This would not be as sensitive an issue as changing the nation’s title, and it could also be used to gauge whether KMT members and pan-blue camp supporters really love the ROC or the KMT.
Lee Hsiao-feng is a professor at National Taipei University of Education’s Graduate School of Taiwanese Culture.
Translated by Perry Svensson
On Sunday, 13 new urgent care centers (UCC) officially began operations across the six special municipalities. The purpose of the centers — which are open from 8am to midnight on Sundays and national holidays — is to reduce congestion in hospital emergency rooms, especially during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year. It remains to be seen how effective these centers would be. For one, it is difficult for people to judge for themselves whether their condition warrants visiting a major hospital or a UCC — long-term public education and health promotions are necessary. Second, many emergency departments acknowledge
US President Donald Trump’s seemingly throwaway “Taiwan is Taiwan” statement has been appearing in headlines all over the media. Although it appears to have been made in passing, the comment nevertheless reveals something about Trump’s views and his understanding of Taiwan’s situation. In line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the US and Taiwan enjoy unofficial, but close economic, cultural and national defense ties. They lack official diplomatic relations, but maintain a partnership based on shared democratic values and strategic alignment. Excluding China, Taiwan maintains a level of diplomatic relations, official or otherwise, with many nations worldwide. It can be said that
Victory in conflict requires mastery of two “balances”: First, the balance of power, and second, the balance of error, or making sure that you do not make the most mistakes, thus helping your enemy’s victory. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has made a decisive and potentially fatal error by making an enemy of the Jewish Nation, centered today in the State of Israel but historically one of the great civilizations extending back at least 3,000 years. Mind you, no Israeli leader has ever publicly declared that “China is our enemy,” but on October 28, 2025, self-described Chinese People’s Armed Police (PAP) propaganda
Lockheed Martin on Tuesday responded to concerns over delayed shipments of F-16V Block 70 jets, saying it had added extra shifts on its production lines to accelerate progress. The Ministry of National Defense on Monday said that delivery of all 66 F-16V Block 70 jets — originally expected by the end of next year — would be pushed back due to production line relocations and global supply chain disruptions. Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that Taiwan and the US are working to resolve the delays, adding that 50 of the aircraft are in production, with 10 scheduled for flight
RSS