No real love
The government has reportedly purchased ads on TV claiming its love for the flag that represents the Republic of China (ROC) and stressed the flag should be hung where it can be.
Due to Beijing’s interference, this symbol of the ROC is prohibited from being displayed at many international sports events. This ROC flag is now selectively prohibited from being shown in public in Taiwan.
A case in point: When China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) visited Taiwan or when China’s pandas were shipped to Taipei, the ROC flag suddenly disappeared all along their travel routes. This is not even the result of the so-called “1992 consensus.” This has been a capitulation by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) China-friendly regime ever since it took power in 2008.
Under former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) watch, every time I took a flight back to Taiwan I could always see a huge ROC flag displayed on a big glass wall from the tarmac at Taoyuan Airport.
Now that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is back in power, it has withdrawn the flag on several occasions by forbidding people to rally with the flag and it has monopolized all information.
YANG JI-CHARNG
Columbus, Ohio
Wu’s inhumane treatment
When I read about Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤), daughter of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), talking about her mother, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), in the newspaper recently, I couldn’t help but cry without knowing why. Immediately, I had a strong desire to visit the former first lady. After thinking about the logistics, I phoned Reverend Kao Chun-ming (高俊明) to visit Wu.
Wu sat in her wheelchair with her skinny body. Her lower body is totally paralyzed. Although Wu did not shed any tears, it definitely hurt my heart. It feels as if Wu, after sitting in a wheelchair for 25 years and being as thin as a rail, could easily fall down when the wind blows. How can such a disabled person go to jail? Knowing about Wu’s condition, the judiciary still occasionally reported to the media that she would be kept in a prison in Taichung. Apparently Wu, a person who is unable to take care of her basic daily living activities and who suffers from numerous diseases, won’t be able to obtain proper care if she is sent to prison in Taichung. Going to prison is a life-threatening event for her. Now she is in a totally helpless situation since the courts are almost entirely run by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Furthermore, it appears to be all right for others to accept political contributions, except for Chen Shui-bian. He has been labeled as corrupt because he accepted political donations. Is this fair? This is political persecution. I, as a Taiwanese, deeply feel that such treatment toward A-bian is an act of bullying toward the people of Taiwan. I want to proclaim to the world that this is too unjust. Let me ask the Judicial Yuan president, the minister of justice, prosecutors and judges: Where is your conscience? What would you think and feel if your loved ones were treated like this?
After visiting Wu, I was very angry with our officials, who apparently don’t need a reason to convict someone. We used to be afraid of the Chinese Communist Party; this incident will make us even more afraid of the KMT. I believe that if my gentlemen friends, former premier Sun Yun-suan (孫運璿), former Presidential Office secretary-general Chiang Yang-shih (蔣彥士), former minister of finance Li Kwoh-ting (李國鼎), former Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau director-general Shen Chih-yue (沈之岳) and former Presidential Office national policy adviser Yang Chia-lin (楊家麟) were still alive, they would not have allowed these kind of things to happen and treat A-bian and his family in such a way.
In Jung Chang’s (張戎) book Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China, she wrote that former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) used the people, especially during the Cultural Revolution, as the most powerful weapon in a dictatorship. Because Mao instigated and nourished the dark side of human nature, it made China into a moral wilderness and a land full of hatred.
Given this, I urge President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to pay attention to humanity and to be considerate of fellow Taiwanese.
YANG LIU HSIU-HWA
Taipei
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