Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday visited veterans in Kaohsiung who had been verbally attacked by self-claimed citizen reporter Hung Su-chu (洪素珠), saying that her party would propose draft legislation to ban “discrimination based on ethnicity.”
Hung Hsiu-chu visited Chou Fu-wen (周富文) and Peng Tzu-ko (彭子珂), who came to Taiwan with the KMT regime in 1949 and were recently aggressively questioned by Hung Su-chu at Kaohsiung’s 228 Peace Park.
During the visit, Hung Hsiu-chu “held their hands to console them and told them that [she] was upset for them,” she said in a post on Facebook, adding that she apologized to the veterans on behalf of the KMT “for failing to explain to society the contributions of veterans to Taiwan.”
Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Taipei Times
Chou said he belongs to a generation that witnessed tumultuous social upheavals and would not take Hung Su-chu’s comments to heart, despite the injustice he suffered, Hung Hsiu-chu said, adding that Chou nevertheless shed tears when expressing his feelings.
Peng shared his life experiences with the KMT chairwoman, including becoming a civil official with the highest grades and being a volunteer for the KMT for 25 years. He told Hung Hsiu-chu that, despite feeling upset about the incident, he would let the matter go, but also expressed his hope that Hung Su-chu would stop her verbal attacks.
“We have to thank these veterans for their contributions to Taiwan’s stability and prosperity,” Hung Hsiu-chu said, adding that Taiwanese society is composed of good people, but “there is a small group of people who do not understand what veterans contributed to Taiwan.”
“The KMT will endeavor with the greatest sincerity to make society understand veterans’ contributions and resolve misunderstanding and hatred,” she added.
Hung Hsiu-chu said she admires veterans’ ability to forgive and hopes that there would be more rational conversation to review history without prejudice.
“I hope that the public can understand that veterans who came to Taiwan decades ago have settled and devoted their lives to Taiwan’s prosperity and development. Their efforts should be appreciated and they should not be attacked or humiliated,” Hung Hsiu-chu said.
She added that Taiwan should not be further polarized by hatred and that the KMT would propose draft legislation to ban discrimination based on ethnicity, “for the next generation and Taiwan’s future.”
She called on President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the Democratic Progressive Party to support the bill.
Hung Hsiu-chu also visited Taoyuan Veterans Home.
Before Hung Hsiu-chu’s Kaohsiung visit, Veterans Affairs Council Director Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙) yesterday morning also visited Chou and Peng, saying that the council would take care of veterans and protect their rights.
While the KMT chairwoman called for rational dialogue and an end to hatred, KMT Central Policy Committee chief executive director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) on Facebook slammed as “shameless” Taiwanese who see themselves as Japanese.
Alex Tsai said Hung Su-chu’s belief that she is Japanese “came from [former president] Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and [Taipei Mayor] Ko Wen-je (柯文哲),” accusing their and Tsai Ing-wen’s families of being Japanese “imperial subjects.”
He also said the president’s call for an end to “ethnic prejudice” was a “political lie,” as she and those like her were what caused Hung Su-chu’s mindset.
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
RSS