Quake thanks games
Following the earthquake, which measured a 7.2 on the Richter scale, that struck Hualien County on Wednesday morning last week, leaders of at least 48 countries and other important politicians expressed their condolences to Taiwan and offered to provide assistance.
Meanwhile, Chinese Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Geng Shuang (耿爽), tagged on a remark thanking the international community “on Taiwan’s behalf” for its care and good wishes, during a UN Security Council briefing.
Geng’s statement was sternly condemned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which accused China of shamelessly using the earthquake to engage in cognitive warfare.
After reading news reports about the incident, I was fuming, but I felt a bit better after reading a post by a Japanese user named Koji Hirai on the social platform X.
Following the earthquake in “the independent country of Taiwan,” a Chinese representative had thanked the international community for its concern on Taiwan’s behalf, Hirai wrote.
The Chinese representative seemed to be losing his marbles, he said, adding that Taiwan is an independent country, so China’s action was as if an earthquake happened in Hawaii and Japan’s representative spoke on behalf of the US government by thanking other countries for their concern.
Some self-styled “constitutional experts” in Taiwan say that, according to the Constitution of the Republic of China, the “Taiwan area” and the “mainland area” both belong to the territory of the Republic of China.
In that case, if there is an earthquake in the “mainland area” (which, of course, we hope would not happen) and the international community provides assistance or donations, the “constitutional experts” should follow Geng’s example by expressing gratitude on behalf of the people of the “mainland area” of the Republic of China.
That would make sense, would it not?
Chuang Po-wen
Taipei
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then