To argue his case for a new constitution (“Taiwan needs a new constitution,” Nov. 16, page 8), Fu Jen Catholic University assistant professor Yao Meng-chang (姚孟昌) cited Remembrance Day — Nov. 11 — which in the West commemorates those who died fighting since World War I.
Although Remembrance Day is unofficially observed in Hong Kong — a holdover from British rule — it is not observed in Taiwan, where by all rights it should be.
Many Republic of China (ROC) citizens lost their lives as part of the Chinese Labor Corps supporting the Allies in Europe during the war.
Unfortunately, in spite of the protest of the ROC delegation to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, then-US president Woodrow Wilson and the Allies gave the Shandong Peninsula — the birthplace of Confucius (孔子) — to Japan.
As a result of this geopolitical decision, the ROC government, which later fled to Taiwan, refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles.
RESENTING THE WEST
Furthermore, the perceived insult infuriated Chinese against the West and it ignited the May Fourth Movement, which Mao Zedong (毛澤東) 20 years later cited as the dawn of communist China.
Although the “Shandong problem” was resolved to China’s satisfaction in 1921, the ROC still refuses to recognize Remembrance Day, preferring instead to forget those in the Chinese Labor Corps who died fighting in a war supposedly meant “to make the world safe for democracy.”
Yao argued for a new constitution by comparing Taiwan’s situation to that of the then-British colonies in North America at the time of the American Revolution, when dissidents and rebels fought for independence against the colonial troops.
Yao’s comparison is apt, but not for the reasons he cites.
What was to become the US at the time was still an alliance of geographically linked colonies — not states — populated by diverse “refugees” primarily from England.
King George III oppressively held the colonies as part of the British Empire and regarded their declaration of independence as an act of sedition.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the oppressive “king” of China, feels the same way about Taiwan.
That Taiwan is a breakaway province — or colony — populated by dissidents and descendants of refugees from China after the Chinese Civil War.
Similarly, Xi would consider a new Taiwanese constitution a provocation fueled by the same “foreign barbarians” who once stole the Shandong Peninsula from China.
However, just as the US’ population in 1776 no longer considered themselves British, Taiwanese no longer consider themselves Chinese.
In this sense, Yao is right, Taiwan needs a new constitution that recognizes the preferred identity of its people by disposing of the name ROC.
After all, the US did not call itself the “Republic of British Colonies.”
RISK OF WAR
Unfortunately, Yao is also right that a new constitution could demand Taiwanese to sacrifice their lives in a defensive war over their sovereignty and democracy.
Should such a war come to pass, one can only hope that a new “Taiwanese Remembrance Day” would follow.
If it does, it would mean freedom and democracy had prevailed over another assault by an oppressive cadre of criminals calling itself a government.
Xue Meng-ren is an adjunct associate professor at Chaoyang University of Technology.
Recently, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) published three of my articles on the US presidential election, which is to be held on Nov. 5. I would like to share my perspective on the intense and stalemated presidential election with the people of Taiwan, as well as Taiwanese and Chinese Americans in the US. The current consensus of both major US political parties is to counter China and protect Taiwan. However, I do not trust former US president Donald Trump. He has questioned the US’ commitment to defending Taiwan and explicitly stated the significant challenges involved in doing so. “Trump believes
The government is considering building a semiconductor cluster in Europe, specifically in the Czech Republic, to support Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) new fab in Dresden, Germany, and to help local companies explore new business opportunities there. Europe wants to ensure the security of its semiconductor sector, but a lack of comprehensive supply chains there could pose significant risks to semiconductor clusters. The Czech government is aggressively seeking to build its own semiconductor industry and showing strong interest in collaborating with Taiwanese companies. Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on Friday said that Taiwan is optimistic about building a semiconductor cluster in
China has successfully held its Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, with 53 of 55 countries from the African Union (AU) participating. The two countries that did not participate were Eswatini and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which have no diplomatic relations with China. Twenty-four leaders were reported to have participated. Despite African countries complaining about summit fatigue, with recent summits held with Russia, Italy, South Korea, the US and Indonesia, as well as Japan next month, they still turned up in large numbers in Beijing. China’s ability to attract most of the African leaders to a summit demonstrates that it is still being
The Russian city of Vladivostok lies approximately 45km from the Sino-Russian border on the Sea of Japan. The area was not always Russian territory: It was once the site of a Chinese settlement. The settlement would later be known as Yongmingcheng (永明城), the “city of eternal light,” during the Yuan Dynasty. That light was extinguished in 1858 when a large area of land was ceded by the Qing Dynasty to the Russian Empire with the signing of the Treaty of Aigun. The People’s Republic of China founded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never ruled Taiwan. Taiwan was governed by the
RSS