An online petition to amend the Criminal Code to ban the Chinese national flag was on Wednesday rejected by the Ministry of Justice, which said it would infringe on people’s freedom of speech.
While those who signed the petition might see this as a defeat, they should instead see it as a chance to celebrate the strength of the nation’s democracy.
Unlike in China, where expression has limitations and where the Republic of China (ROC) flag is banned, Taiwan allows people to freely debate the nation’s political future and express support for the political entity of their choosing.
The freedom of pro-unification activists to display the People’s Republic of China (PRC) flag should not cause concern for pro-independence activists, because displaying the flag further reinforces the notion that the PRC and the ROC are two separate, sovereign states.
The only people who need to be concerned about the PRC flag being displayed in Taiwan are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hardliners who hold out hope for an eventual retaking of the “mainland.”
Petition supporters said that the prevalence of the PRC flag in Taiwan would facilitate a communist takeover of Taiwan, as Taiwanese have become susceptible to PRC propaganda. While it is true that the PRC government uses propaganda to influence Taiwanese, much of that involves posts to online forums by fake users who spread rumors and leave negative comments about Taiwanese politicians and the military.
Conversely, those who protest and wave PRC flags in public places are largely seen as a nuisance and ignored. Often it is foreign visitors who are inconvenienced by these pro-unification demonstrations, and the government has already taken steps to prevent them from assembling in places such as the plaza in front of Taipei 101 and the MRT station entrance in the Ximending (西門町) shopping area.
The government is also aware of the potentially harmful nature of fake posts, and the National Communications Commission last month said that it plans to implement a fact-checking platform later this year.
Protests are frequent in Taiwan — further evidence of the nation’s strong democracy — and these will continue regardless of whether PRC flags may be displayed. In fact, groups with connections to the Chinese government are unlikely to display PRC flags, as they routinely deny such connections.
Unlike flag-waving pro-unification demonstrations, which are merely expressions of personal opinion, political protests criticizing specific government policies have often been found to have links to China, which could infringe upon various laws.
Article 100 of the Criminal Code, for example, states: “Any person by violence or threats committing an overt act with intent to destroy the organization of the State, seize State territory, or, using illegal means, change the Constitution or overthrow the Government shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than seven years.”
Flag-waving pro-unification demonstrations are perfectly acceptable in a democratic Taiwan, as long as the demonstrators do not infringe upon the rights of others by, for example, verbally or physically assaulting others, obstructing the free passage of others or disturbing the peace. Those are all minor offenses and there are laws in place to deal with them.
While PRC flags might be offensive to some Taiwanese, the freedom to display them stands as a testament to the strength of this nation’s democracy, rather than being a threat to it.
The bird flu outbreak at US dairy farms keeps finding alarming new ways to surprise scientists. Last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that H5N1 is spreading not just from birds to herds, but among cows. Meanwhile, media reports say that an unknown number of cows are asymptomatic. Although the risk to humans is still low, it is clear that far more work needs to be done to get a handle on the reach of the virus and how it is being transmitted. That would require the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to get
For the incoming Administration of President-elect William Lai (賴清德), successfully deterring a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attack or invasion of democratic Taiwan over his four-year term would be a clear victory. But it could also be a curse, because during those four years the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will grow far stronger. As such, increased vigilance in Washington and Taipei will be needed to ensure that already multiplying CCP threat trends don’t overwhelm Taiwan, the United States, and their democratic allies. One CCP attempt to overwhelm was announced on April 19, 2024, namely that the PLA had erred in combining major missions
On April 11, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered a speech at a joint meeting of the US Congress in Washington, in which he said that “China’s current external stance and military actions present an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge … to the peace and stability of the international community.” Kishida emphasized Japan’s role as “the US’ closest ally.” “The international order that the US worked for generations to build is facing new challenges,” Kishida said. “I understand it is a heavy burden to carry such hopes on your shoulders,” he said. “Japan is already standing shoulder to shoulder
Former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) used to push for reforms to protect Taiwan by adopting the “three noes” policy as well as “Taiwanization.” Later, then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) wished to save the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) by pushing for the party’s “localization,” hoping to compete with homegrown political parties as a pro-Taiwan KMT. However, the present-day members of the KMT do not know what they are talking about, and do not heed the two former presidents’ words, so the party has suffered a third consecutive defeat in the January presidential election. Soon after gaining power with the help of the KMT’s