An 81-year-old lawyer who came to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) when he was 13 said in an interview with China’s CCTV that he is full of “bitterness” that his four grandchildren are all “little Taiwan independence [supporters].”
Kao Ping-han (高秉涵), who was born in China’s Shandong Province in 1935, took his family to China in July to “find their roots,” and during the trip he was followed by a group of Chinese reporters.
Kao is famous in China after he received the “Moving China” award in 2012 for his efforts in helping more than 100 veterans’ families take their loved ones’ ashes to China after they passed away in the past 20 years.
Photo: CNA
In the interview, Kao said he had taken his grandchildren to China so that they could learn more about Chinese culture, and visit the Yellow River and famous mountains “that are in their textbooks.”
“I want them to look at them for real. They think that those belong to China and have nothing to do with Taiwan,” Kao said.
When a journalist asked Kao’s 10-year-old grandchild: ‘Are you Chinese?’ she replied: ‘No, my grandpa is Chinese; I’m Taiwanese,’” Kao said.
“I’m full of bitterness,” Kao said.
The CCTV reporter said she could not understand how “that kind of situation emerged” among his grandchildren.
To the reporter’s puzzlement, Kao said it was due to “so-called Taiwanese cultural independence.”
“After [former president] Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) died, [former president] Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) implemented ‘desinicization’ during his eight years of presidency, which was followed by [another eight years of former president] Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). There had been nearly 20 years of ‘desinicization,’” Kao said.
“There is nothing I can do; those who voted for [President] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) are exactly those ‘little Taiwan independence [supporters]’ who started [to form] 20 years ago,” Kao said.
“Taiwan itself has no culture, as it is part of the Zhonghua minzu [Chinese ethnic group, 中華民族]; its culture is China’s culture, but what the Democratic Progressive Party has taught them is to believe that Taiwan belongs to the Aborigines,” he said. “I asked one of my granddaughters which is the longest river in our country and she said it was the Tamsui River, when I expected her to say the Yangtze or the Yellow River, which she said are not Taiwanese rivers. They will not say Taiwan is a nation, a notion they have not yet acquired, but [they simply say] they are Taiwanese.”
“I’m doing my job as everybody has to when the nation is in trouble,” Kao said in response to reporters’ queries as to how he could change the trend by himself. “By bringing my grandchildren [to China] I want them to recognize their ancestors and remove from them this independence [thinking].”
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
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
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
RSS