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
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