End of cycle brings change
According to the lunar calendar, the current Year of the Horse — also known as a Jiawu (甲午) year — ends today, concluding a 60-year cycle.
Two cycles ago, Qing Dynasty China was defeated by the Empire of Japan in 1894, ceding Taiwan to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.
One cycle ago, the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty was signed on Dec. 2, 1954, in Washington. This treaty essentially prevented China from taking over Taiwan, as an attack on the latter would cause the US to respond in its defense.
It was predicted that some big events would happen during the current cycle that would seriously impact Taiwan’s status. In addition to the Kaohsiung gas pipeline explosions, two TransAsia Airways flights crashed and six inmates committed suicide after a hostage siege in a prison. Probably even more shocking were the Sunflower movement and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) landslide defeat in the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 29 last year.
In the past 120 years, Taiwan has been repeatedly manipulated by outside powers: ceded by the Qing Dynasty to the Empire of Japan; surrendered by Japan to the US Military Government; US General Douglas MacArthur’s General Order No. 1 authorized Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣中正) military occupation; and the Taiwan Relations Act defined the Republic of China (ROC) government in exile and established that it is Taiwan’s governing authority. In Taiwan, the pan-blue camp claims that the ROC owns Taiwan, and the pan-green camp’s politicians say that Taiwan is the ROC and the ROC is Taiwan.
Once the current Jiawu cycle is complete, it will be time for Taiwanese to face the most important issue for the nation’s future. Next year’s presidential campaigns are about to begin. Candidates from both sides and voters would be required to present and discuss the future of Taiwan. What are the challenges the nation faces today? Will it continue to be the colonial slave of the ROC government in exile? Will it continue to sell its future to politicians who use taxes to buy our votes?
Ever since Chiang and the KMT’s military occupation of the nation, Taiwanese have been suffering from Stockholm syndrome, willingly joining the thieves. It is a joke that a Chinese party, the KMT, rules Taiwan and its people accept it. Why does the KMT not change its name to Taiwan KMT if it wants to continue living in the nation?
The challenge Taiwan faces today is clearly understanding its own political status. Once that is achieved, the nation can then set clear objectives to pursue. We all need to understand and realize that the ROC is passe. It cannot represent Taiwan. No matter what happens to Taiwan in the future, there is no ROC. If Taiwan is annexed by China, it would be part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), not the ROC. If Taiwan gains independence, it would be the Republic of Taiwan, not the ROC. If Taiwan becomes the commonwealth of any other entity, it would not be under the ROC.
Taiwan has almost lost its identity during President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, because his lifetime dream of unification has set the nation on a course to ultimately be annexed by China. Thanks to the Sunflower movement, Taiwanese are waking up to face the reality of the nation’s status.
The “status quo” never remains still, but rather moves all the time. Even though China is growing bigger and tougher than before, Taiwan can still find a way to survive if Taiwanese realize that Taiwan is not the ROC and the ROC is not Taiwan.
Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) just declared her intention to run in next year’s presidential election. It is time to establish an age that belongs to the public, an age of new politics of transparency, honesty, public participation, tolerance, clear division of power and responsibility, as well as firm protection of national sovereignty.
However, what is Taiwan sovereign over today? Why is it not a member of the UN? Are we Taiwan or the ROC? Why does the US restrict the raising of the ROC flag at the Twin Oaks estate in Washington? How come the ROC flag cannot be displayed whenever a PRC envoy visits Taiwan? Let us check it out honestly and transparently.
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
They did it again. For the whole world to see: an image of a Taiwan flag crushed by an industrial press, and the horrifying warning that “it’s closer than you think.” All with the seal of authenticity that only a reputable international media outlet can give. The Economist turned what looks like a pastiche of a poster for a grim horror movie into a truth everyone can digest, accept, and use to support exactly the opinion China wants you to have: It is over and done, Taiwan is doomed. Four years after inaccurately naming Taiwan the most dangerous place on
Wherever one looks, the United States is ceding ground to China. From foreign aid to foreign trade, and from reorganizations to organizational guidance, the Trump administration has embarked on a stunning effort to hobble itself in grappling with what his own secretary of state calls “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.” The problems start at the Department of State. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asserted that “it’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power” and that the world has returned to multipolarity, with “multi-great powers in different parts of the
President William Lai (賴清德) recently attended an event in Taipei marking the end of World War II in Europe, emphasizing in his speech: “Using force to invade another country is an unjust act and will ultimately fail.” In just a few words, he captured the core values of the postwar international order and reminded us again: History is not just for reflection, but serves as a warning for the present. From a broad historical perspective, his statement carries weight. For centuries, international relations operated under the law of the jungle — where the strong dominated and the weak were constrained. That
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) made a statement that provoked unprecedented repudiations among the European diplomats in Taipei. Chu said during a KMT Central Standing Committee meeting that what President William Lai (賴清德) has been doing to the opposition is equivalent to what Adolf Hitler did in Nazi Germany, referencing ongoing investigations into the KMT’s alleged forgery of signatures used in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party legislators. In response, the German Institute Taipei posted a statement to express its “deep disappointment and concern”
RSS