Voices from around the world are calling for a boycott of February’s Beijing Winter Olympics over the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) human rights abuses. At the same time, large numbers of Chinese warplanes are routinely harassing Taiwan. Just as all this is happening, Taiwanese singer Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰), known as the king of the Golden Melody Awards, was invited to sing Beijing Olympics theme songs and record a video to start the 100-day countdown to the Games.
Hsiao called himself a member of the Chinese audience, and the words “Taiwan, China” were placed in parentheses after his name on a China Central Television broadcast of the event that he posted on Sina Weibo. This means that he agrees that Taiwan belongs to China.
Hsiao’s actions are hurtful to Taiwan — the land where he was born and raised. He has become a model example of the CCP’s “united front” efforts against Taiwan. The CCP can use his actions to proclaim at home and abroad that “Taiwanese support the CCP’s ‘one country, two systems’ policy” and “Taiwan is part of China,” although we all know that neither of those things is true.
His actions not only jeopardize Taiwan’s sovereignty, but also threaten its people’s free and democratic way of life.
He only represents a minority of Taiwanese and his views do not reflect popular public opinion.
This is proved by opinion poll results announced by the Mainland Affairs Council showing that only 1.9 percent of Taiwanese support speedy unification with China and only 3.9 percent support its “one country, two systems” formula.
It has long been the case that many Taiwanese entertainers, for various reasons and in various settings, take to the stage to speak on the CCP’s behalf. Rather than letting them get away with it, the government should not hesitate to come up with a set of solutions to prevent the same kind of thing happening in the future.
Hong Kong’s illegitimate Legislative Council on Wednesday last week passed the Film Censorship (Amendment) Ordinance 2021, which empowers the Hong Kong government to prohibit “the exhibition or publication of any film that would be contrary to the interests of national security.”
The ordinance stipulates that anyone who shows a film that has not been approved would face a penalty of up to HK$1 million (US$128,487) or three years in prison.
Taiwan could consider enacting a similar law on the grounds of national security. The time has surely come to draw a red line for “red entertainers.”
Liu Ming-te holds a doctorate in political science from the Free University of Berlin.
Translated by Julian Clegg
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
As Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won by a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, it is a good time to take another look at recent developments in the Maldivian foreign policy. While Muizzu has been promoting his “Maldives First” policy, the agenda seems to have lost sight of a number of factors. Contemporary Maldivian policy serves as a stark illustration of how a blend of missteps in public posturing, populist agendas and inattentive leadership can lead to diplomatic setbacks and damage a country’s long-term foreign policy priorities. Over the past few months, Maldivian foreign policy has entangled itself in playing
A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers led by the party’s legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (?) are to visit Beijing for four days this week, but some have questioned the timing and purpose of the visit, which demonstrates the KMT caucus’ increasing arrogance. Fu on Wednesday last week confirmed that following an invitation by Beijing, he would lead a group of lawmakers to China from Thursday to Sunday to discuss tourism and agricultural exports, but he refused to say whether they would meet with Chinese officials. That the visit is taking place during the legislative session and in the aftermath