Veteran independence advocate Koo Kwan-min (
The forum was held by several pro-independence youth organizations in Taipei.
Koo started by sharing his life stories and beliefs.
PHOTO: CNA
"When I was a kid, I attended schools where most of the students were Japanese," Koo said.
Koo was born in 1926 during the Japanese colonial period.
As a Taiwanese, Koo often suffered discrimination by his Japanese classmates, but he never surrendered, Koo said.
"They [the Japanese students] said I should be humble because I was Taiwanese and they wanted me to apologize for not being humble enough. But I refused to do that," Koo said.
"So they beat me, and I fought back and never surrendered to them" Koo told the audience.
Koo told his audience that his childhood experiences had taught him to fight injustice and to hold on to his beliefs.
"Maybe you're young, inexperienced and maybe you're just an ordinary person ... but as long as you hold on to what you believe, you'll win the respect [of others] one day," Koo said.
He said that his struggle against the colonial regimes that ruled Taiwan -- be it the Japanese or the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) -- and to help to establish Taiwan as a self-sustained nation were his life-long beliefs.
Asked by a member of the audience if he was worried about a Chinese military intervention if Taiwan were to declare independence, Koo said "I wouldn't worry about it."
"China's economy relies on foreign investment along the coastline. If a war breaks out between Taiwan and China, China's economy would simply collapse as foreign investment would melt away," he said. "That would be a real disaster for China."
Koo, however, said that if China developed into a self-sustained economy, "the situation could change."
As most of the cash flow doesn't return to Taiwan, "the tighter the relations between the two countries, the worse the economic condition would be for Taiwan," he said.
"A lot of people are against Taiwan's independence while they benefit from Taiwan's status as an independent country," he said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS