With the arrival of the Internet, the diversification and circulation of information broadcasts has become rapid in democratic societies. However, social media networks have entered an era where freedom outweighs professionalism, and in doing so, social media are affecting the ideas and actions of many of the younger generation.
During the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) past party-state rule, a person had to take the views of the KMT into consideration when commenting on people or things. In the Internet era all taboos are gone when you want to criticize someone or something, as long as you stay away from defamation.
This new era has also created its first batch of instant stars: Web celebrities.
As Taiwanese media outlets were unable to address sensitive political issues during the authoritarian era, the only way they could attract an audience and gain popularity was to publish controversial social news.
Those longing for freedom and democracy wanted reform and to break taboos, but Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) — a political hack who claims to hate ideology and claims to be “white” as opposed to belonging the blue, green or orange camps — has repeatedly glorified these taboos as being “Asian values,” and is opposed to examining others based on their ideological standpoint.
It is said that Ko’s controversial remarks are welcomed by the younger generation and the mayor has become a favorite politician among Web celebrities.
This half-baked politician — despite his high IQ — is a disaster. A person’s ideology is the core of their thinking and they should be proud of it without being afraid of being examined.
For example, the conservative and liberal camps in the US have different opinions on economic and social policy, and on how they interpret the US constitution. The Republican Party is more conservative, while the Democratic Party is more liberal.
Following US President Donald Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh earlier this month to become a justice of the US Supreme Court, the Democrats are busy examining Kavanaugh’s previous statements.
Ko — a political rookie who believes in fascist ideology — has praised Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), Mao Zedong (毛澤東) and former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀).
That is the kind of ideology that really should be questioned and challenged.
He even believes that Taiwan is a part of China and said last year that “the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family.”
This is an issue of national identity and voters should examine it more closely than his political or social policies.
The younger generation is being misled in their belief that having a political ideology is shameful and a sign of being obstinate and stubborn. Without core ideas and beliefs, choosing which politicians they like or dislike easily becomes subjective and they vote for them as if elections were mere beauty pageants, ignoring the candidates’ political identity.
The Internet generation should make use of their freedom to honestly express their own ideals. The state of the nation’s development is worrisome if people are willing to be manipulated by others, and see the spreading of rumors and fake news as a positive thing.
A country will inevitably descend into chaos and disorder if its people do not attach importance to honesty and credibility.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Weeks into the craze, nobody quite knows what to make of the OpenClaw mania sweeping China, marked by viral photos of retirees lining up for installation events and users gathering in red claw hats. The queues and cosplay inspired by the “raising a lobster” trend make for irresistible China clickbait. However, the West is fixating on the least important part of the story. As a consumer craze, OpenClaw — the AI agent designed to do tasks on a user’s behalf — would likely burn out. Without some developer background, it is too glitchy and technically awkward for true mainstream adoption,
Out of 64 participating universities in this year’s Stars Program — through which schools directly recommend their top students to universities for admission — only 19 filled their admissions quotas. There were 922 vacancies, down more than 200 from last year; top universities had 37 unfilled places, 40 fewer than last year. The original purpose of the Stars Program was to expand admissions to a wider range of students. However, certain departments at elite universities that failed to meet their admissions quotas are not improving. Vacancies at top universities are linked to students’ program preferences on their applications, but inappropriate admission
On Monday, a group of bipartisan US senators arrived in Taiwan to support the nation’s special defense bill to counter Chinese threats. At the same time, Beijing announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had invited Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to visit China, a move to make the KMT a pawn in its proxy warfare against Taiwan and the US. Since her inauguration as KMT chair last year, Cheng, widely seen as a pro-China figure, has made no secret of her desire to interact with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and meet with Xi, naming it a
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) took the stage at a protest rally on Sunday in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei in support of former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who has been sentenced to 17 years in jail for corruption and embezzlement. Huang told the crowd that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) had sent a message of support the previous day, saying she would be traveling from the south to Taipei: If the protest continued into the evening, she had said, she would show up. The rally was due to end
RSS