Students at a private high school in Hsinchu City yesterday sparked outrage after photographs of them in Nazi costumes at a cosplay event a day earlier went viral on the Internet.
Photos of a class at Hsinchu Kuang Fu High School wearing costumes resembling Nazi uniforms and carrying swastika banners were shared on Professional Technology Temple (PTT), the nation’s largest online academic bulletin board, triggering an outcry from representative offices, government officials and netizens, with some saying the incident yet again showed Taiwan’s ignorance of international affairs.
A photo among those that were previously posted to Facebook showed students dressed as Nazi soldiers standing in formation, while another one showed a student riding in a tank made of cardboard boxes and performing a Nazi salute.
Photo: Screengrab from Facebook
The Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei issued a statement criticizing the event.
“It is deplorable and shocking that seven decades only after the world had witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust, a high school in Taiwan is supporting such an outrageous action as we witnessed yesterday at Hsinchu Kuang Fu Senior High School,” Israeli Representative to Taiwan Asher Yarden wrote on the mission’s Facebook page. “We strongly condemn this tasteless occurrence and call on the Taiwanese authorities, in all levels, to initiate educational programs which would introduce the meaning of the Holocaust and teach its history and universal meaning.”
The German Institute Taipei also issued a statement on Facebook.
“Sadly, the students clearly do not understand that the Nazi symbol stands for disregard for human rights and oppression,” it said.
The Presidential Office said the incident was “regrettable” and “disappointing.”
“We feel it is extremely disrespectful to the Jewish people who had been victims of the oppression perpetrated during wars, but more importantly, it highlighted ignorance about history,” the Presidential Office said in a statement. “The responsibility of an education facility is to teach students that peace and diversity did not come easily. The freedom of thinking should be based on justice and respect, rather than misconduct.”
“Education authorities should require the school to shoulder responsibility by seriously reflecting on the incident, understand and improve education in related fields of study and apologize to the countries it offended,” it added.
The Ministry of Education expressed “astonishment and regret,” while Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) apologized over the incident, urging all schools in Taiwan to learn a lesson from the incident.
The ministry said it would visit the school to look into the incident, assist in improving education programs and would punish the school over an “administrative negligence of duty.”
The ministry would also cut subsidies for the school, it said.
Netizens on PTT also expressed outrage.
“No wonder Taiwan is ranked the third-most ignorant country in the world,” a netizen said, an apparent reference to results of this year’s Perils of Perception Survey by UK-based market research organization Ipsos MORI, which ranked Taiwan third on an “ignorance index” after India and China.
“It is incredible that no teachers prevented the incident,” another netizen said.
The school later yesterday apologized for the incident.
The school said it failed to carefully review the students’ plans for the event, but added that it does not support the violence committed by the Nazis.
The school said it assumed responsibility for the students’ improper behavior, adding that it would improve its standards and help students to gain a broader global view.
Additional reporting by CNA
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
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
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique