Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday said that he had — indirectly — asked former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) to reconsider attending Beijing’s military parade next week marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Hau, the former Taipei mayor and his party’s legislative candidate for Keelung, said the message was passed along with help from his father, former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村), who had asked a third party to deliver it.
He said his father had urged Lien, through “a certain communication channel,” not to attend the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) celebrations next week to commemorate China’s victory over Japan before the historical truth — that the KMT/Republic of China (ROC) was the mainstay of the force fighting Japan — has been reinstated in China.
As long as the Chinese government has not rectified its version of the history of the War of Resistance Against Japan, attending Beijing’s commemorative events would be tantamount to distorting historical facts and endorsing the CCP’s false interpretation of the history, Hau Lung-bin said.
Commemorating the war would be meaningful only if Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) leading role and the sacrifice of the ROC’s soldiers in the war were recognized, he said.
Neither he nor his father considered it appropriate to accept the CCP’s invitation to the celebrations, Hau Lung-bin said, adding that his father — a retired four-star army general and former chief of the general staff — had tried a month ago to discourage other retired brass and KMT politicians from going to Beijing as well.
Hau Pei-tsun told several retired generals that as their salaries were once paid by the ROC government, which is still paying their pensions, they should not go, because any former ROC military personnel who stood on a stage in Beijing to watch Thursday’s parade would compromise their soldier’s integrity.
“If you attend the CCP’s military parade, you should give up your pension,” Hau Lung-bin quoted his father as saying.
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said that he had also asked Lien not to attend the parade for the sake of the ROC’s dignity and because history “cannot be turned into ashes.”
“This is not to pressure anybody, but it is just that it concerns the integrity of the KMT and the ROC,” Wu said.
“Once you go, the truth of the resistance war is distorted,” Wu said.
The KMT harshly criticized former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) over comments that he made about the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台), calling him a traitor to the ROC, so the KMT should hold Lien to the same standard and tell him not to go to Beijing, Wu said.
The Ministry of National Defense has also issued a statement urging retired military personnel not to attend next week’s events in Beijing to commemorate the anniversary.
The ministry said it had issued the appeal to protect the nation’s dignity and so that no one could question the veterans’ motives.
Beijing has reportedly sent invitation to several ROC veterans to attend a series of events marking the anniversary of the end of the war.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS