On Sept. 9, Wang Lie-ping (王麗萍), spokeswoman of the Million Voices Against Corruption demonstration initiated by former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德), was booed off the podium when she said that, "The people of the Republic of Taiwan will not be defeated by some rain."
Upon hearing Wang's remark, Shih grimaced and the throng of demonstrators demanded an apology, for they found the term "Republic of Taiwan" totally unacceptable. Afterwards, to pacify the disgruntled demonstrators, Shih and his campaign staff offered solemn apologies.
On Sept. 12, Liao Lin-Li-lin (廖林麗玲) and Chen Tsan-hung (陳燦鴻), Taiwan Solidarity Union candidates for the year-end Taipei City Councilor elections, visited Shih and asked him to support the governments efforts to join the UN using the name "Taiwan."
Surprisingly, Shih angrily rebuked the two, wondering where were they in the past when he himself had proposed that Taiwan join the UN under the name Taiwan.
It turns out that the name "Republic of Taiwan" can only be used among certain people.
When Israel fell, the Israeli people were heartbroken and filled with regret.
As seen in Psalms 137:5-6, a poet describe his feelings in the words, "If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its dexterity. Let my tongue cleave to my palate if I will not remember you, if I will not bring to mind Jerusalem during my greatest joy."
Someone who has called himself an "omnipotent warrior" has ended up offering solemn apologies when someone speaks up for the ideals that he himself held to in the past. We have finally understood that the meaning of truth may change depending on the person.
The last paragraph of the Million Voices Against Corruption campaign declaration pledges to rebuild the core values of a civic society. I assumed that seeking President Chen Shui-bian's (
We are finding, however, that these standards only apply to certain people and political parties. When applied to the campaign itself, they immediately turn into "political persecution."
Although the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan has made it clear throughout the anti-Chen campaign that we hope to see the establishment of a political and legal system that conforms to the principles of faith, and that we are not supporting a "certain people," we still receive abusive and threatening phone calls.
If you do not have the right to freely express yourself on the land where you were born; if you do not have the right to identify with that land; if you are being attacked and forced to apologize by a social movement claiming to be "peaceful and rational" for adhering to your own ideals; if that movement threatens and oppresses others simply because they do not share its ideals -- can that movement still be called a social movement and claim to adhere to the values of "love, peace and non-violence?"
If it can, Taiwan's democracy is a disaster.
Andrew Chang is the secretary-general of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.
Translated by Daniel Cheng
In the first year of his second term, US President Donald Trump continued to shake the foundations of the liberal international order to realize his “America first” policy. However, amid an atmosphere of uncertainty and unpredictability, the Trump administration brought some clarity to its policy toward Taiwan. As expected, bilateral trade emerged as a major priority for the new Trump administration. To secure a favorable trade deal with Taiwan, it adopted a two-pronged strategy: First, Trump accused Taiwan of “stealing” chip business from the US, indicating that if Taipei did not address Washington’s concerns in this strategic sector, it could revisit its Taiwan
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) challenges and ignores the international rules-based order by violating Taiwanese airspace using a high-flying drone: This incident is a multi-layered challenge, including a lawfare challenge against the First Island Chain, the US, and the world. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) defines lawfare as “controlling the enemy through the law or using the law to constrain the enemy.” Chen Yu-cheng (陳育正), an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of China Military Affairs Studies, at Taiwan’s Fu Hsing Kang College (National Defense University), argues the PLA uses lawfare to create a precedent and a new de facto legal
The stocks of rare earth companies soared on Monday following news that the Trump administration had taken a 10 percent stake in Oklahoma mining and magnet company USA Rare Earth Inc. Such is the visible benefit enjoyed by the growing number of firms that count Uncle Sam as a shareholder. Yet recent events surrounding perhaps what is the most well-known state-picked champion, Intel Corp, exposed a major unseen cost of the federal government’s unprecedented intervention in private business: the distortion of capital markets that have underpinned US growth and innovation since its founding. Prior to Intel’s Jan. 22 call with analysts
Chile has elected a new government that has the opportunity to take a fresh look at some key aspects of foreign economic policy, mainly a greater focus on Asia, including Taiwan. Still, in the great scheme of things, Chile is a small nation in Latin America, compared with giants such as Brazil and Mexico, or other major markets such as Colombia and Argentina. So why should Taiwan pay much attention to the new administration? Because the victory of Chilean president-elect Jose Antonio Kast, a right-of-center politician, can be seen as confirming that the continent is undergoing one of its periodic political shifts,
RSS