Is it legal to replace Hung?
So Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) is leaving the presidential race.
My question is: Is replacing her legal?
There are only a little more than three months left until January’s presidential and legislative elections. In most democracies, there is a cut-off date in elections, after which no one is allowed to join the race.
Has not the cut-off date been reached? If Hung steps down, is it legal for someone else to take her place? And if Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) takes her place, it seems to me that it would be a futile effort at this point.
On a different note, this election seems to be rather strange. In every other election, Beijing has done some saber rattling to one extent or another.
However, in this election period, there have not been any activities of the kind.
Has Beijing given up on taking Taiwan by force? That seems unrealistic. It would never give up the jingoism.
Has Beijing conceded the election to Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)? That does not seem realistic, either.
Does it have something up its sleeve to make Tsai look incompetent? That seems more likely, but still too conspiratorial.
Still, the lack of saber rattling is quite unsettling.
Shervin Marsh
Yilan County
The party and the anthem
This year, Double Ten National Day ceremonies were attended by the ruling party and several opposition parties.
However, many people did not sing a part, or the whole, of the first sentence — “Three people’s principles are cherished by our party” — of the national anthem of the Republic of China (ROC). The reason is they are bothered by the phrase “our party.”
The ROC was established in China in 1911 as a single-party republic. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) song was thus adopted as the national anthem. Taiwan had nothing to do with the ROC, or its national anthem, until 1945.
At the time, Taiwanese wondered why the national anthem had the phrase “our party,” even though none of them were KMT members.
Today, KMT members make up only 3 percent of the population. It is unfair to ask about 97 percent of Taiwanese to sing a national anthem that does not belong to them.
The first sentence of the national anthem could be changed to “Liberty/democracy are cherished by our nation.”
Also, KMT leaders recently called for unity among party members. However, the word “Chinese” in the party’s name implies discrimination against Taiwanese members. Unity could be enhanced if the party was simply called “the Nationalist Party.”
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
Vieshow should pull film
For its 10th anniversary, Vieshow Cinemas is showing a short animated film before all the feature films in its theaters.
The animation features a character attempting to repair a damaged electrical wire.
When the character accidentally electrocutes itself, it smiles and dances, creating the impression that being electrocuted is fun.
This is a dangerous message appealing to an age group that is susceptible to being misled by cartoon characters, and at the greatest risk of mishandling electrical devices.
Vieshow Cinemas should pull this dangerous animation immediately.
Matthew Lien
Taipei
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