Democracy in Taiwan is still in its infancy, and occasional bursts of unexpected and dramatic incidents make its often dull politics quite interesting.
The turmoil caused by Devotion (還願), a horror video game developed by the Taiwanese firm Red Candle Games, is a good example.
A scene in the game contained a curse titled “[Chinese President] Xi Jinping (習近平) Winnie the Pooh” in red seal script, sparking furious indignation among Chinese players and a boycott.
However, the anger and boycott misfired, turning the game into a huge commercial success, with sales exceeding 1 million digital copies, although Red Candle Games said in an announcement on Facebook that sales were not that high.
On Feb. 25, the BBC published an article headlined “Taiwan game ‘Devotion’ upsets China with Winnie the Pooh reference,” which said: “Taiwan is an island that is for all practical purposes independent, but China sees it as a rebel region and insists that other countries should not have diplomatic relations with it.”
It is tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of the sensitive Chinese.
The next day, China Unification Promotion Party founder Chang An-le (張安樂) led a protest against Premier Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) statement that if China attacked Taiwan, he would protect the nation, even if he only had a broom to fight with.
During the rally, Chang, also known as the “White Wolf,” stumbled and nearly fell into a prop coffin.
The scene quickly went viral online, sparking an outburst of creativity among netizens, who came up with all kinds of sarcastic comments based on homophones for the word for coffin (guan, 棺).
Chang continued to talk nonsense at the rally, saying: “If we are going to die, you go first” and that he would sacrifice his life for peaceful unification with China.
Anyone who hears him say such things and behave like that could not help but burst out laughing. It was truly a classic scene.
China does not have any freedom of speech or artistic expression, and even referring to Xi as “the steamed bun” online warrants severe punishment for “picking a quarrel and stirring up trouble.”
One netizen discovered this the hard way, and his attorney’s license was revoked.
Taiwanese do not in the slightest way identify with that country.
The only remaining allure — “going west” to make money — has evaporated following rising operating costs, the cancelation of benefits for Taiwanese businesses and the impacts of a trade dispute between Beijing and Washington.
Anyone insisting on going against the current and uniting with China is only digging a grave for themselves and their offspring, and setting themselves up for the same massive persecution suffered by Tibetans and Uighurs.
Chang’s fall onto the coffin was a friendly reminder to Taiwanese from the gods.
John Yu is a civil servant.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming
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