The ROC betrayed Taiwan
During his Double Ten National Day speech on Thursday, President William Lai (賴清德) delivered a clear message to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that it has no right to represent Taiwan in the international community.
Lai also said that the Republic of China (ROC) was once expelled from the international community; however, the Taiwanese have never been in self-exile. They have limited resources on this land, but when friends encounter natural disasters or face a pandemic, they do not hesitate to extend a helping hand. “Taiwan Can Help!” is not a slogan, it is an action taken by the Taiwanese to love peace and be kind to others.
All Taiwanese, whether they want to call the country the ROC, Taiwan, or the ROC on Taiwan, have a common belief: Our determination to defend our national sovereignty remains unchanged, Lai said. Our efforts to maintain the “status quo” of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait remain unchanged. We hope that the two sides’ commitment to equality, dignity, and healthy and orderly dialogue and exchanges would also remain unchanged.
At the end of his speech, Lai said: “Our determination, from one generation to the next, to protect our free and democratic way of life remains unchanged. I believe this is the dream that Taiwan’s 23 million people all share; it is also the shared ideal that Taiwanese society and the international community hold. The stronger the commitment of the Taiwanese people, the greater the tenacity of democracy around the world. The greater the tenacity of the Taiwanese people, the stronger the commitment of democracy around the world.”
Lai has tried his best to unite Taiwan and realize our dreams together. However, what is next? We are still facing the challenge from China and Taiwan is still an international orphan; these facts have never changed. So, I strongly believe that Lai must take a decisive step to guide Taiwan in the right direction, for compromising to include all would only end up in nothing but standing still and going nowhere.
Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) on March 13, 1950, said to his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) military officers that the ROC had perished following the loss of China. The International Olympic Committee greeted us as Formosa in the Rome Olympics in 1960, but we attended under protest. In 1964 in Tokyo and 1968 in Mexico, it greeted us as Taiwan, but we still attended under protest. We accepted neither Formosa nor Taiwan and ended up accepting Chinese Taipei. This fact checks from history; the ROC government rejected Formosa and Taiwan just for its fake name.
Now that Lai inherits the torch of the ROC, he must clearly point out to Taiwanese who betrayed Taiwan. The ROC betrayed Taiwan. Stand up from wherever you fall. That is the only way one can really heal and restart. Those who believe they are Chinese are free to move to China; Taiwan is for the Taiwanese. That is the only way we can truly unite Taiwan to realize our dream together.
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
The recent passing of Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), known to many as “Big S,” due to influenza-induced pneumonia at just 48 years old is a devastating reminder that the flu is not just a seasonal nuisance — it is a serious and potentially fatal illness. Hsu, a beloved actress and cultural icon who shaped the memories of many growing up in Taiwan, should not have died from a preventable disease. Yet her death is part of a larger trend that Taiwan has ignored for too long — our collective underestimation of the flu and our low uptake of the
For Taipei, last year was a particularly dangerous period, with China stepping up coercive pressures on Taiwan amid signs of US President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, which eventually led his Democratic Party to force him to abandon his re-election campaign. The political drift in the US bred uncertainty in Taiwan and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region about American strategic commitment and resolve. With America deeply involved in the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the last thing Washington wanted was a Taiwan Strait contingency, which is why Biden invested in personal diplomacy with China’s dictator Xi Jinping (習近平). The return of
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has long been a cornerstone of US foreign policy, advancing not only humanitarian aid but also the US’ strategic interests worldwide. The abrupt dismantling of USAID under US President Donald Trump ‘s administration represents a profound miscalculation with dire consequences for global influence, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. By withdrawing USAID’s presence, Washington is creating a vacuum that China is eager to fill, a shift that will directly weaken Taiwan’s international position while emboldening Beijing’s efforts to isolate Taipei. USAID has been a crucial player in countering China’s global expansion, particularly in regions where
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), known affectionately as “Big S,” recently passed away from pneumonia caused by the flu. The Mandarin word for the flu — which translates to “epidemic cold” in English — is misleading. Although the flu tends to spread rapidly and shares similar symptoms with the common cold, its name easily leads people to underestimate its dangers and delay seeking medical treatment. The flu is an acute viral respiratory illness, and there are vaccines to prevent its spread and strengthen immunity. This being the case, the Mandarin word for “influenza” used in Taiwan should be renamed from the misleading