Afghanistan [late last month] was taken over by the Taliban and people were panicking. The capital, Kabul, suffered terrorist attacks, which were claimed by the Islamic State group.
As US and NATO forces retreated, terrorist attacks left many people homeless, and after US President Joe Biden ordered counterattacks, the two sides fought, suffering heavy casualties.
On Taiwanese Internet forums, people were ridiculing the international community, mocking the capabilities of Muslims, making fun of Islamic texts and doctrines, and showing great disrespect to Islam, one of the world’s three major religions with 1.9 billion believers.
This hurt the Muslim community in Taiwan and prompted the Islamic Association of Taiwan to issue a statement.
This so-called “parody culture,” satirizing real life, is prevalent in the entertainment industry. In this era of online information and extreme news, it is often used to tarnish the image of political figures. It seems humorous and comical, but is irresponsible and humiliating.
Since the terror attacks in the US on Sept. 11, 2001, the world has been paying increasing attention to Islam, and differences of faith are yet another source of misunderstanding as we try to understand the complexities behind terrorism and the clash of civilizations.
This is particularly true in monotheistic cultures, where there is no god other than the one true God. This makes tolerance and acceptance between religions important issues that we must understand.
The mockery of Islam on Taiwanese Internet forums is not only ill-advised, but it also damages the nation’s international image and affects diplomatic relations.
Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly magazine, in 2015 was attacked by terrorists, leaving 12 people dead, raising the terror alert in Paris to its highest level and forcing schools to close in one of the greatest threats to security in France in the modern era.
The reason was that it had published cartoons ridiculing the Islamic Prophet Mohammed, which led to discontent among Muslims, and threats and attacks from extremists.
This tragic case is a reminder to all of us who live in nations that enjoy freedom of expression that we should respect others in what we say and do.
We should refrain from making frivolous jokes about other people’s religious beliefs, because it hurts others and is of no benefit to ourselves, and it could even endanger the public.
Liu Wei-ting is a postdoctoral fellow at Academia Sinica.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has offered Taiwan a paradoxical mix of reassurance and risk. Trump’s visceral hostility toward China could reinforce deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. Yet his disdain for alliances and penchant for transactional bargaining threaten to erode what Taiwan needs most: a reliable US commitment. Taiwan’s security depends less on US power than on US reliability, but Trump is undermining the latter. Deterrence without credibility is a hollow shield. Trump’s China policy in his second term has oscillated wildly between confrontation and conciliation. One day, he threatens Beijing with “massive” tariffs and calls China America’s “greatest geopolitical
US President Donald Trump’s seemingly throwaway “Taiwan is Taiwan” statement has been appearing in headlines all over the media. Although it appears to have been made in passing, the comment nevertheless reveals something about Trump’s views and his understanding of Taiwan’s situation. In line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the US and Taiwan enjoy unofficial, but close economic, cultural and national defense ties. They lack official diplomatic relations, but maintain a partnership based on shared democratic values and strategic alignment. Excluding China, Taiwan maintains a level of diplomatic relations, official or otherwise, with many nations worldwide. It can be said that
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made the astonishing assertion during an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle, published on Friday last week, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. She also essentially absolved Putin of blame for initiating the war in Ukraine. Commentators have since listed the reasons that Cheng’s assertion was not only absurd, but bordered on dangerous. Her claim is certainly absurd to the extent that there is no need to discuss the substance of it: It would be far more useful to assess what drove her to make the point and stick so
The central bank has launched a redesign of the New Taiwan dollar banknotes, prompting questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — “Are we not promoting digital payments? Why spend NT$5 billion on a redesign?” Many assume that cash will disappear in the digital age, but they forget that it represents the ultimate trust in the system. Banknotes do not become obsolete, they do not crash, they cannot be frozen and they leave no record of transactions. They remain the cleanest means of exchange in a free society. In a fully digitized world, every purchase, donation and action leaves behind data.
RSS