Political activist Yen Ming-wei (顏銘緯) and academics yesterday lashed out at what they called the China-leaning statements President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has made during recent interviews with foreign media outlets, while calling on Taiwanese to refrain from going down the same mistaken path as Hong Kong.
“Poor Taiwan, so far away from God and so close to China,” Yen said at a news conference in Taipei organized by the Taiwan Association of University Professors.
He revised a quote often attributed to former Mexican president Porfirio Diaz: “Poor Mexico, so far way from God and so close to the US.”
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“However we choose to interact with China, we should not forget that we should always insist on Taiwan’s sovereignty,” said Yen, a freshman at National Sun Yat-sen University and director of Greater Kaohsiung-based activist group Flanc Radical’s electoral campaign in the municipality.
Turning to the incident on Friday last week in which he reportedly hurled a book at Ma as the latter was leaving a public event in Taipei, Yen said that he threw it not because he wanted to hurt the president, but because he is becoming increasingly anxious about the nation’s future, as Ma seems to be “selling Taiwan out to China with all his China-leaning policies, remarks and actions.”
“I wanted to remind him about Taiwan’s status as a sovereign state, which is also the message that the book Formosa Betrayed conveys,” Yen said of the book he threw.
National Cheng Kung University political science professor Leung Man-to (梁文韜) said that while the president continuously reiterates a position that the so-called “status quo” between Taiwan and China should be maintained, “his policies and actions show otherwise.”
“We simply cannot trust the Ma government,” he said.
A Hong Kong native, Leung said that Taiwan is now traveling on the same path as Hong Kong and might end up in the same political trouble as the territory faces today.
“We should learn a lesson from Hong Kong,” Leung said.
Aletheia University professor Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) shared Leung’s view.
“I have known many friends from Hong Kong for more than 20 years and they are all opposed to Taiwanese independence,” Chen said. “But after what happened yesterday [Sunday], they have probably realized why Taiwanese want to be independent.”
Chen said that the “one country, two systems” framework proposed by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) was originally designed for “unification” with Taiwan, but was first put into practice in Hong Kong.
“Obviously, that framework has now failed and we should seriously think about whether we [Taiwan] want to follow in Hong Kong’s footsteps,” he said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS