Guarding Taiwan’s values
Elections should be a fair and public competition among all candidates, but Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate, has exercised “night attacks,” based on a popular military song sung in Taiwan describing while facing enemy — the communists — “hand on the knife, toe on the ground, the heroic brothers march into the dark wilderness. Looking around, listen in all directions, silent, silent, silent drilling into the enemy’s heart, drilling into the enemy’s heart. Just wait for that signal to shine, just wait for the signal to ring, we will launch a lightning attack, win a vigorous victory.”
Han repeated the song to encourage his supporters to fight in the election campaign against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁). Obviously, Han took Chen as his enemy and wanted to drill into his heart. He committed to comply with the “1992 consensus,” counted on the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to back up all his campaign promises to increase Kaohsiung’s population and promote economics.
So, is the Communist PRC Han’s partner or the boss behind the scenes?
Would this arrangement be accepted by the majority of Taiwanese voters?
Of course not, Han’s popularity stems from his fanciful promises, gaffe-prone manner and his facade of being a maverick.
In reality, he is a deep-blue candidate of the KMT. His campaign drew attention because of promotion by Chinese media and media backed by PRC funding. This is a model of the fake news produced by China’s cyberwarfare ranks. If it succeeds this time, China could easily control any election in Taiwan hereafter.
No. No way. We must stop it.
China is tightly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and there is no real democratic election held there. They do not know that candidates must be open and offer workable policies to voters in their campaigns. What they know is to pass rules giving Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) an unlimited term. What a shame!
Taiwanese must decisively, firmly and loudly use their ballots on Saturday to tell China to stop bullying Taiwan. Voters must clearly demonstrate to the world that Taiwan should compete Taiwan, not “Chinese Taipei.” Taiwan should be named as Taiwan, not the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. This is the first time we have a chance to tell the international community that Taiwan is not part of China, Taiwan is Taiwan.
Names identify people, objects, articles, songs, poems or nations. There could be duplicate names for people, but there is no duplicate names of nations. So, a nation’s name should clearly distinguish it from any other country.
Is Taiwan part of China? No, China ceded to Japan in perpetuity and full sovereignty of the Pescadores group and Formosa under the Shimonoseki Treaty on April 17, 1895. As Taiwan was not part of China then, neither there is any document nor international treaty proving that the sovereignty of Taiwan has been transferred to China.
Referendum No. 13 asks: Do you agree to apply for all international sports events and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under the full name of “Taiwan”? Please vote “yes” on the ballot to show your support and recognize yourself as Taiwanese, not Chinese. The blue camp misled the public that Taiwanese athletes would be barred from the Olympics if the proposition is passed, but that is not true. Even refugees can form a team to compete at the Olympics, carrying the same Olympic-logo flag that “Chinese Taipei” does.
Please no more nonsense! Say no to China.
We must start in Taipei.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said: “Our election campaign team could be called the weakest campaign team ever or might not even qualify as a campaign team. Frankly speaking, it is very difficult for independent candidates to run in an election, because there are still some basic techniques required to run a campaign.”
Yes, it is difficult for an independent candidate to run in an election, but is Ko really an independent candidate?
He criticized the two major parties, saying that the blue camp’s KMT and the green camp’s DPP are ideologically identical, while identifying himself as the only neutral — in the white camp.
However, this is a big joke. He has been labeled as part of the red camp, as he never dares to say no to China.
These nine-in-one elections are not simply local elections in Taiwan, a fight between the pan-green and pan-blue, but a battle of democracy against communism and Taiwanese values against China’s totalitarianism.
Let’s use our ballots to vote out those who are Chinese fellows, let’s say yes to Taiwan and no to China on Saturday.
The best way to counter China’s cyberattacks and bullying is to cast your ballot for Chen Chi-mai in Kaohsiung, Yao Wen-chi [Pasuya Yao, 姚文智] in Taipei and yes on Referendum No. 13.
Let’s join hands to guard Taiwan’s values of freedom, democracy, human rights and dignity while the world watches.
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
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