As the year’s end approaches, does President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) still plan to lead the nation in a rousing rendition of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) party anthem on Jan. 1?
The lyrics of the current version of the anthem date back to 1924, when Taiwan was still under Japanese colonial rule.
It was adapted from an inaugural ceremony address given by Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), a founder of the Republic of China (ROC), at the Whampoa Military Academy.
The KMT later commandeered it as its party anthem, after which it became the ROC anthem.
In 1945, the KMT government brought it to Taiwan and, through a combination of propaganda and punishment, courtesy of the now-abolished Act Governing the Punishment of Police Offenses (違警罰法), installed the anthem, which had little to do with Taiwan, as the national anthem.
The “three principles of the people” mentioned in the anthem are taken directly from the KMT’s founding ideology.
All political parties are entitled to laud their respective beliefs, but it makes no sense in a democracy for one party to insist that all others hark its words, which, to paraphrase the anthem, says: “Lead on, righteous men, be the vanguard for the people, following the principles by day and night, without rest.”
“The foundations of our party,” the anthem states at the beginning, with “party” referring to the KMT. It is astonishing that members of other parties, or independents, would be required to sing those words.
It is odd even if Tsai declines to sing the opening lines — “Three principles of the people, the foundation of our party, with these we establish the republic” — and chimes in only when the song reaches the line: “World peace be our goal.”
This is damaging the national image. In Taiwan, where democracy and transitional justice are emphasized, it is appropriate to address the issue of the national anthem.
Changing the nation’s official name and flag entail constitutional and legal considerations; changing the anthem does not. All it requires is the political will and an executive order.
In 1988, then-KMT legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) asked at the Legislative Yuan whether the governing party should continue to insist on using its party anthem as a national anthem or whether elected representatives should determine the issue.
In 1990, then-legislator Chang Po-ya (張博雅) of the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union submitted a request to the Executive Yuan for an extemporaneous motion to change the anthem.
Then-KMT legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) in response said that there was no reason that the anthem could not be altered, as long as the changes acknowledged the existence of the ROC.
“If the word ‘party’ in ‘foundations of our party’ is so sensitive, then just change it,” Hung said.
Clearly, the issue of the national anthem is hardly an intractable one for the KMT.
Taiwanese artist Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) caused a stir when she sang the Chinese patriotic song My Motherland to mark China’s National Day in October. There was even talk of fining her NT$500,000 for contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
If people were insulted that an artist performed a song glorifying China, what of the president leading the nation in an anthem belonging to a party that oversaw an authoritarian regime, irrespective of whether Tsai leaves out some words and whether she contravenes any laws in doing so?
Instead of putting the nation through this embarrassing scene every year, why not find a national anthem that everyone will want to sing?
Lau Yi-te is chairman of the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
Translated by Paul Cooper
On May 7, 1971, Henry Kissinger planned his first, ultra-secret mission to China and pondered whether it would be better to meet his Chinese interlocutors “in Pakistan where the Pakistanis would tape the meeting — or in China where the Chinese would do the taping.” After a flicker of thought, he decided to have the Chinese do all the tape recording, translating and transcribing. Fortuitously, historians have several thousand pages of verbatim texts of Dr. Kissinger’s negotiations with his Chinese counterparts. Paradoxically, behind the scenes, Chinese stenographers prepared verbatim English language typescripts faster than they could translate and type them
More than 30 years ago when I immigrated to the US, applied for citizenship and took the 100-question civics test, the one part of the naturalization process that left the deepest impression on me was one question on the N-400 form, which asked: “Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any communist or totalitarian party anywhere in the world?” Answering “yes” could lead to the rejection of your application. Some people might try their luck and lie, but if exposed, the consequences could be much worse — a person could be fined,
Xiaomi Corp founder Lei Jun (雷軍) on May 22 made a high-profile announcement, giving online viewers a sneak peek at the company’s first 3-nanometer mobile processor — the Xring O1 chip — and saying it is a breakthrough in China’s chip design history. Although Xiaomi might be capable of designing chips, it lacks the ability to manufacture them. No matter how beautifully planned the blueprints are, if they cannot be mass-produced, they are nothing more than drawings on paper. The truth is that China’s chipmaking efforts are still heavily reliant on the free world — particularly on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Tuesday last week apologized over allegations that the former director of the city’s Civil Affairs Department had illegally accessed citizens’ data to assist the KMT in its campaign to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilors. Given the public discontent with opposition lawmakers’ disruptive behavior in the legislature, passage of unconstitutional legislation and slashing of the central government’s budget, civic groups have launched a massive campaign to recall KMT lawmakers. The KMT has tried to fight back by initiating campaigns to recall DPP lawmakers, but the petition documents they
RSS