Mao Zedong (毛澤東) said he would solve the Taiwan problem in 100 years. Well, in some respects we could say the problem has been solved. Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his KMT have passed up any chance of invading China. We (the US) refused to support his plans to attack in the 1950s. In Taiwan, the KMT is in decline as an increasingly literate public learns to practice democracy.
Democracy conjures up many nightmares to traditional Chinese. We must understand that undermining the Confucian model instills such fears. Taiwan is very Chinese. Mao simplified the written language. Taiwan kept the old writing system. Taiwan is a mix of the very old China and the most progressive Chinese culture in the world.
All this is to say that there are mixed feelings about losing the world's first Chinese democracy. Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger sold the Taiwanese down the river during former US president Richard Nixon's reign. Prior to that the Japanese ruled the island for quite a long time. It was their garden.
Currently, there is a native-born Taiwanese running the island. Taiwan wants to keep the status quo. Those out-of-town KMT people have a different view. So do they really have a right to determine Taiwan's future? Or is it about time the Taiwanese took over those chores? In view of the economic miracle their democracy has wrought, one would concur.
Why does China continue to demand inclusion in its communist empire? Well, if we look at the miracles Taiwanese businessmen have contributed to the economy we can understand much better. Now economic zones exist in all the major markets there.
Bill Parkhurst
USA
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
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
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