In his youth, Mao Zedong (?翾A東) was said to once recite a poem while swimming across the Xiangjiang (?eth>|? River: "Confident of a 200-year human life, I will swim across 3,000 li." It was fine for the youthful Mao to believe he would live to the age of 200, given his love for raving. But still bloated with confidence in his old age, Mao led China to one of its biggest disasters in history -- the Cultural Revolution.
This time, Jiang Zemin (
It is fine to dream and rave, as long as one does not take it seriously and it causes no harm. But words can create a major catastrophe if taken seriously, especially if spoken by someone who has power.
Mao never realized that his "confidence in a 200-year human life" was an impossible dream. Likewise, "unification" or "restoration of the nation" has been the dream of those in power after the political split across the Taiwan Strait since 1949. Since the establishment of the PRC, Mao, Zhou Enlai (
But dreams are just that. If people are forced to see the dream of unification come true, there can only be disaster.
Perhaps Jiang's dream of "unification within 50 years" should also be seen in this light. Jiang is China's third-generation core leader. Will the leaders 50 years from now have their own dreams? Jiang must never repeat Mao's big mistake.
Hu Wen-huei is the Deputy Editor in Chief of the Liberty Times.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
RSS