The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday criticized the “I am a R.O.C.er” T-shirt introduced by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) re-election campaign office, saying it could mislead the international community as there are nations other than the Republic of China that use the acronym ROC.
Ma’s campaign office seems to have a national identity crisis, DPP spokesperson Liang Wen-jie (梁文傑) said, adding that according to the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs’ Web site, other countries such as the Republic of Croatia, Republic of Cameroon, Republic of Cuba, the Republic of Chile, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Chad, and the Republic of Colombia, use the abbreviation ROC.
“When you wear [that] T-shirt, foreigners might ask which -country do you mean?” Liang said.
Saying that national identity is a simple issue to which one can simply answer “I am Taiwanese,” Liang said Ma’s campaign office shouldn’t employ gimmicks because the issue of national identity is not a game to be made light of.
Another DPP spokesperson, Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), said that “the Ma government should not keep silent when others attempt to relegate us to a province of China and have the courage to say we are the ROC when attending the WHO. Now with the ‘I am a R.O.C.er’ T-shirt, it is just confusing people.”
If Ma’s campaign office really wanted to have such a T-shirt, it should print the ROC flag and inscribe on it words such as “Taiwan.” It would then be a straight-forward message and not one that seeks to obfuscate, he added.
In response, Ma’s campaign office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) said the DPP’s various interpretations of ROC stemmed from DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) comments that the ROC was a government-in-exile, adding that the DPP was creating a storm in a teacup.
“For young people in Taiwan, the ROC is Taiwan and Taiwan is the ROC, I am Taiwanese, I am a citizen of the ROC, I am also an ROCer, it’s a very natural and simple answer,” she said.
Instead of arguing for the sake of arguing, the DPP should ask Tsai, who is also the DPP’s presidential candidate, to detail her cross-strait policies and ideas for governing the nation, Lee added.
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
RSS