Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Shu Chin-chiang's (
"I think the TSU's gesture in Japan was a direct slap at the 10-point agreement signed between KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun (江丙坤) and chairman of China's People's Political Consultative Conference Jia Qinglin (賈慶林)," said Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), a research assistant at the Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at Academia Sinica.
"It is obvious that Shu knew his visit to Japan's Yasukuni Shrine would roil Taiwan's press and political circles, which it did," Hsu said. "I think the TSU wanted to highlight that the Taiwan issue is an international issue that can't be easily settled by a cross-party pact."
The Yasukuni memorial in Tokyo enshrines the names of Japan's war dead, including 28,000 Taiwanese and 21,000 Korean soldiers, most of whom were forced into service under Japan's colonial rule. On Monday Shu visited the memorial.
Hsu said that Beijing is very concerned about Taiwan's interaction with Japan, and even the leader of a small opposition party in Taiwan enrages China if he shows his goodwill to Japan.
"I think Shu's visit would provoke people in Taiwan to think about whether Taiwan should accept China's nationalism and keep fawning over Beijing, which is what some pan-blues are doing," Hsu said.
Lee Yung-chih (
"China's strong reaction to Shu's visit [to the Shrine] is a matter of repeat occurrence when it comes to Japan. Chinese nationalism is targeted at vilifying Japan and the US," Lee said.
Lee said that the Yasukuni Shrine memorializes many different soldiers who died in World War II and other conflicts -- a few were war felons like then Japanese General and Premier Hideki Tojo, while some were also civilians from Taiwan and Korea.
"It's hard to say that paying homage to the people enshrined in Yasukuni Shrine is simply an action promoting Japanese militarism," Lee said. "I think it is normal to mourn people who died in a war, if we just temporarily put aside political prejudices."
"But I have to say that politics cannot wipe out people's feelings after all," Lee added.
"Besides, Taiwanese people had no alternative but to join in the fighting for Japan, since China's Qing Dynasty ceded Taiwan to Japan, and Taiwan was a part of Japan at that time," Lee said. He added that people showed clearer thinking when comparing the times that the pan-blues commemorated the Martyrs Shrine in Taipei or Chiang's visit to the tombs of the "72 Martyrs" in Guangzhou during his trip to China.
Chen I-shen (
"Taiwanese society is a divided society that has been immersed in political disputes. Even a petty thing can arouse a great stir," Chen said.
"The relationship between Taiwan and Japan is different from the relationship between China and Japan, which is a historical fact. Yet it was distorted by political ideologies," Chen said.
"I don't think China has the right to decide for the people of Taiwan that we must hate Japan," Chen said, taking his father as an example. He said his father conscripted by Japan during World War II and sent to the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia while Taiwan was under Japan's colonial rule.
"My father told me that he did not blame Japan for drafting him into the war, and I didn't sense his grudge against Japan," Chen said.
"I think those who are enraged at Shu's visit should ask Taiwanese people's opinion first, and not just follow China's action," Chen said. "I think it is worth thinking about if the Yasukuni Shrine is truly a symbol of evil."
Additionally, Chen said that Taiwanese society needs more tolerance toward different opinions and identifications if it were to become a mature democratic society.
"Time and again these incidents have revealed which party is a more narrow-minded," Chen said. "For example, Chiang Kai-shek's (
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
RSS