Taiwan must declare independence to become an equal member of the international community, Taiwan independence activist Su Beng (史明) said yesterday.
“Taiwanese must become independent,” Su, 97, told a crowd in a visit to Changhua County’s Lugang Township (鹿港). “Only then will we be able to determine our own affairs, and only then will we stand as an equal among the nations of the world.”
Su accused the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of colonialism, saying that during the Martial Law era, “the KMT held on to the belief that it would return to China. Therefore it thought of Taiwan only as a temporary residence for the interim period and ruled it as a colony, never considering itself Taiwanese.”
“The people who are truly from Taiwan are afraid to say that they are Taiwanese, and that is the Taiwanese tragedy, but fortunately, I believe the new Taiwanese generation has awoken, and hope has dawned in Taiwan,” Su said.
Su yesterday visited the campaign headquarters of Democratic Progressive Party legislative candidate Chen Wen-pin (陳文彬) in Changhua County to voice his support.
Su gave Chen a scroll of calligraphy he had authored that read: “Chaser of dragonflies, lover of the homeland and defender of the roots of Taiwan.”
“Su is an important thinker and revolutionary in the Taiwan independence movement and a steadfast champion working for men and women on the left of the political spectrum,” Chen said, adding that Su has been an inspiration for younger social justice activists.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
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