The DPP yesterday decided to stop airing its Hitler TV advertisement starting Friday. The ad had sparked controversy over its use of the image of former German chancellor Adolf Hitler.
"DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (
"The DPP, which opposes any authoritarian rule, including that of the Nazis, will never identify itself with tyrants and atrocities," party spokesperson Phoenix Cheng (鄭運鵬) said yesterday, adding that society and the media had misunderstood the motivation behind the ad.
He said that the commercial "originally aimed to satirize him [Hitler] instead of encouraging young people to be as outspoken as Hitler. It was also meant to deconstruct the evil Hitler forced on others to show that in the past the minority usually ruled the majority." Therefore, he said, the commercial suggested that "younger generations should speak up and confront [political injustice]."
Even so, the commercial offended several Jewish and human rights organizations and lead them to question whether the party was ignorant of the Jewish people's pain, saying that it has inappropriate to associate "such a monster as Hitler" with other democratic leaders.
Israel Economic and Cultural Office representative Menashe Zipori said yesterday he was glad to learn of the party's final decision to cancel the commercial.
"I appreciate the bold step the party has decided to take. It shows how sensitive they are to public opinion," Zipori said.
Although he called the plan to ax the commercial "a kind decision," he requested that the party "stop airing the commercial sooner" than July 20.
The party on Monday modified the commercial and superimposed illustrations to further distinguish the authoritarian rule of Hitler and Cuban leader Fidel Castro from the democratic rule of former presidents, including the US' John F. Kennedy and Taiwan's Lee Teng-hui (
But on learning of the Jewish community's response to the commercial, the DPP chairman yesterday further instructed the party's cultural and information department to cancel the whole program, putting an end to ongoing outrage triggered by the ad.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft