As China conducted military exercises encircling Taiwan after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, China Central Television News posted an image online with the text: “There is only one China in the world.”
To show their support for China’s ideology, some Taiwanese artists have voluntarily reposted or were “compelled” to repost the image under public pressure, drawing fire from Internet users.
It should not have been a surprise when long-term pro-China artists, such as Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), reposted the image right away, but what was unexpected was that many other Taiwanese artists followed suit.
The artists have no right to feign innocence by saying that their social media accounts are handled by management companies, because they need consent to post on their behalf.
“Little pinks” — Chinese nationalists who forcefully push their ideologies on the Internet — have played a crucial role in this situation, acting like “Red Guards” by watching like hawks the accounts of celebrities to see who had not shared the image and launching mass posting attacks on those who had not.
While most celebrities would buckle under pressure, some of the most popular remained unperturbed, including Jolin Tsai (蔡依林).
Although the malicious behavior of the little pinks was expected, it reminded people of the “fumi-e” policy — a ritual dating to the 1600s during Japan’s Tokugawa period in which suspected Christians were ordered to trample on images depicting Jesus or the Virgin Mary and persecuted if they would not.
It is hard to believe that after a few centuries, little pinks are using a similar approach.
I agree with the statement “there is only one China in the world,” as long as it does not come with hidden clauses, such as “Taiwan is part of China.”
Even though the image did not say the second part, the intention of unification of Taiwan and China is as clear as day — a stance that is widely rejected by Taiwanese.
China’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy, relentless military drills, and the provocations and preposterous behavior of little pinks have reduced the possibility of Taiwan sitting down for peace talks with China.
If anything, their chances of achieving unification have only gotten bleaker over the years.
Hung Yu-jui is a Japanese-language teacher and translator.
Translated by Rita Wang
What began on Feb. 28 as a military campaign against Iran quickly became the largest energy-supply disruption in modern times. Unlike the oil crises of the 1970s, which stemmed from producer-led embargoes, US President Donald Trump is the first leader in modern history to trigger a cascading global energy crisis through direct military action. In the process, Trump has also laid bare Taiwan’s strategic and economic fragilities, offering Beijing a real-time tutorial in how to exploit them. Repairing the damage to Persian Gulf oil and gas infrastructure could take years, suggesting that elevated energy prices are likely to persist. But the most
In late January, Taiwan’s first indigenous submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), completed its first submerged dive, reaching a depth of roughly 50m during trials in the waters off Kaohsiung. By March, it had managed a fifth dive, still well short of the deep-water and endurance tests required before the navy could accept the vessel. The original delivery deadline of November last year passed months ago. CSBC Corp, Taiwan, the lead contractor, now targets June and the Ministry of National Defense is levying daily penalties for every day the submarine remains unfinished. The Hai Kun was supposed to be
Most schoolchildren learn that the circumference of the Earth is about 40,000km. They do not learn that the global economy depends on just 160 of those kilometers. Blocking two narrow waterways — the Strait of Hormuz and the Taiwan Strait — could send the economy back in time, if not to the Stone Age that US President Donald Trump has been threatening to bomb Iran back to, then at least to the mid-20th century, before the Rolling Stones first hit the airwaves. Over the past month and a half, Iran has turned the Strait of Hormuz, which is about 39km wide at
There is a peculiar kind of political theater unfolding in East Asia — one that would be laughable if its consequences were not so dangerous. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) on April 12 returned from Beijing, where she met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and spoke earnestly about preserving “peace” and maintaining the “status quo.” It is a position that sounds responsible, even prudent. It is also a fiction. Taiwan is, by any honest definition, an independent country. It governs itself, defends itself, elects its leaders, and functions as a free and sovereign democracy. Independence is not a
RSS