Republic of Confusion
The name Taiwan as opposed to the ROC is again being hotly debated and continues to be an irreconcilable issue that consumes Taiwan's resources.
The culprit behind the issue is the ROC Constitution that still claims its territory includes Mongolia, China and Taiwan. Such a claim is surreal. The ROC was expelled from China in 1949 and from the UN in 1971. The ROC is a relic of history and now represents only Taiwan.
The opposition continues to claim the ROC represents China. This claim is absurd and unacceptable to the international community. That they have resorted to fudging Taiwan's official name has turned Taiwan into a "Republic of Confusion." However, this doesn't bother them so long as they can still sell the idea to Taiwan's unification zealots.
In their equation, there is no Taiwan factor. They only pay lip service to "Taiwan First" during their campaigns, but actually resonate with their communist counterpart by threatening Taiwan with force and calamity. Essentially, they turn Taiwan into a hostage besieged under a great China jingoism.
The KMT and its media cronies corrupted Taiwan's culture and identity for so long and never faced any repercussion for many of their ill-fated policies and criminal acts during their martial law rule until Taiwan's people became fed up with their corruption. Today they still try to corrupt people's values by saying a corrupt but competent KMT government is much better for Taiwan. That's truly an oxymoron.
Taiwan cannot afford this type of fudge indefinitely. The Taiwanese have to say no to the KMT and their cronies. The post-Lee era is a chaotic, yet critical period for Taiwan. The nation needs a determined and sophisticated leader to stick to reform and return to basic facts. Until then, China is China, Taiwan is Taiwan. There is no confusion and no identity crisis. And only then, the Taiwanese really set themselves free.
Yang Ji-charng
Columbus, Ohio
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