Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) latest campaign slogan unveiled yesterday has triggered a heated online discussion on its underlying messages, as well as bringing accusations of plagiarism.
Early yesterday, Chu posted on Facebook a photograph showing a billboard in Taipei’s downtown area with the slogan “One Taiwan.”
“Past campaigns were usually a process of prolonged bickering ... but after staring at a few key words — solidarity, action and strength — which I selected from a long list, I have come to a realization about the predicaments Taiwan has experienced over the years,” Chu wrote on Facebook.
Photo: Screen grab from Facebook
Chu said he realized that people generally tend to spend more time arguing over problems than trying to tackle them, which has led to the nation’s stagnant economy and “social chaos.”
Addressing Taiwan’s problems requires unity, mutual tolerance and comprehension, Chu said.
“We must jointly march forward into the future with a multicolored, diversified, and united ‘one Taiwan,’” he said.
Some netizens were quick to fill in the blank for Chu’s campaign slogan, saying his “One Taiwan” insinuates Taiwanese independence and stands for “one Taiwan, one China.”
“It is brave of Chu to imply there is ‘one Taiwan, one China’ in his campaign slogan, but why not just say the whole thing?” Taipei City Government policy adviser Hung Chih-kun (洪智坤) said.
Others accused Chu of using the name of Taiwan to solicit votes.
“Chu is saying ‘one Taiwan’ but thinking about ‘one China,’” said a Facebook user who identified himself as Wang Chih Kang. “The 2.0 version [of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九)] must be thinking how gullible Taiwanese are.”
Another netizen, named Cheng Sheng-chuan (鄭勝全), compared the KMT to a schizophrenic person who thinks about “one China” on ordinary days, but automatically shifts their stance to “One Taiwan” during campaign season.
Several netizens accused Chu of plagiarism, saying there is a striking resemblance between the design for his “One Taiwan” poster and that for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) campaign advert “Light Up Taiwan.”
Both Tsai’s and Chu’s campaign advertisements are against a white backdrop and use a similar calligraphic style for the word “Taiwan.”
The DPP advert features a hollow circle in various shades of green, while the letter “O” in Chu’s billboard is rainbow-colored.
“Does it mean Chu agrees with Tsai’s principles and values? He should at least put the name and emblem of his party on the billboard, otherwise people might mistake it for one of Tsai’s campaign ads,” a Facebook user named Liu Che-wei (劉哲瑋) wrote.
Chu said that his “One Taiwan” idea means bringing everyone together regardless of where they are from, their social status or wealth.
“That is the primary mission of a head of state,” he said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS