Thu, Oct 10, 2024 page8

• [ LETTERS ]

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  ‘Taiwan is Taiwan’

  Academics working in the field of Taiwan studies here and abroad proposed this way of describing our national name: Taiwan is not China. Taiwan is not non-China. Taiwan is Taiwan.

  This description of our national name consists of two levels. The first level is the label “Taiwan is not China.” This means that Taiwan, called the “Republic of China (ROC)” when referring to the nation’s formal name, is not China, and that it is necessary to remove “China” from the formal name.

  Perhaps we could understand this argument as being several decades in the making. Taiwan’s formal name is the “Republic of China,” and this is a realization of that base level. However, in describing it that way, Taiwan remains trapped in a China bind.

  The second tier is that we ought to use “Taiwan” itself as a starting coordinate. Taiwan is no other country’s anything. Taiwan is just Taiwan. As former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) once put it: “Taiwan is the world’s Taiwan.”

  This summer during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, Team Taiwan entered as “Chinese Taipei,” but our French hosts were careful to explain to the world during the live broadcast that we are “better known as Taiwan.”

  In other words, we “are Taiwan” is the reality the world already knows and accepts. Taiwan has long introduced itself to the rest of the world as “Taiwan.”

  From the overall view of President William Lai’s (賴清德) description of Taiwan’s name, he continued to emphasize that basic tier description of Taiwan as the ROC during his address at the Double Ten National Day gala on Saturday.

  However, viewing it from how the rest of the world sees us, Taiwanese officials’ descriptions of our proper name could be further clarified, allowing for a much more natural phrasing of “Taiwan is Taiwan” to become our main reference when describing ourselves.

  We are no other country’s anything, yet we are also the world’s Taiwan.

  Chiu Tzu-huan

  Taipei

  Political bartering

  The Legislative Yuan, driven by the ambitions of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), is expanding its powers, and bartering votes for political power has become the norm, with public interest placed on the backburner.

  KMT and TPP politicians continue to exacerbate the political tensions between the green and blue camps, using short-term policies to entice voters, but what are the results? Should the public remain silent in the face of all of this? Politics is life and requires constant oversight.

  KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has previously been jailed for insider trading, but was nevertheless able to pull strings from his jail cell, while his wife, who was Hualien County’s deputy commissioner at the time, took on the position of Hualien County commissioner in his absence. Hualien constituents only looked at transient, short-lived benefits and turned a blind eye to Fu’s and his wife’s past.

  Then there is KMT Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介), a former Tainan city councilor, who once claimed he was too poor to buy a house, but was later reported to own several properties in the special municipality. He ran on an image of being “close to his constituents” to garner their support.

  Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) — presently fighting a recall campaign — promised to “give everyone a Gogoro” to reel in younger voters. These politicians’ strategies are short-term trinkets offered in exchange for votes, yet voters are often enraptured, disregarding the long-term development of their communities.

  Is it any wonder that as Typhoon Krathon slowed to a near-halt and made landfall in the south, Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Keelung in the north, which never saw strong winds or torrential rains, still gave two typhoon days as local government heads tried to cozy up to voters? Yet when Keelung was flooded on Friday last week, Hsieh dared not declare a typhoon day after the public backlash over the previous wasted days. These actions sacrifice long-term public benefits and allocation of resources. They are selling our future short.

  What about the precipitous rise of embattled TPP Chairman and former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). A decade ago, he ran on an image of a political outsider who was different from the KMT and the DPP, drawing in supporters tired of the old green-blue dichotomy. Ten years on, he has become a seasoned politician, fully embracing compromise and using political calculations to get what he wanted.

  Democracy is not an entitlement, it is hard-won. We cannot just throw the occasional glance at politicians’ speeches and actions, we must monitor what they are up to and watch whether they are fulfilling their promises and whether they are truly serving the public.

  Politics is life and requires constant oversight. The future is not decided by elected officials, these people are ultimately given their power by the voters. We have a responsibility to keep a watchful eye on politicians and look closely at our choices. Only in doing so can we provide the next generation with a bright future.

  Shih Li

  Tainan
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