Taipei First Girls’ High School on Monday announced that it has banned its teachers from participating in interviews with Chinese state media after Chinese literature teacher Ou Kui-chih (區桂芝) sparked an outcry by criticizing President William Lai (賴清德) on China Central Television (CCTV).
Ou criticized Lai’s move to designate China as a “hostile foreign force,” saying she did not know how she could face her Chinese relatives.
However, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the past week has held military drills encircling Taiwan — exercises that officials in the US and elsewhere have characterized as destabilizing to regional peace. Chinese state media also published cartoon pictures of Lai that referred to him as a “parasite.”
The president’s designation of China as “hostile” seems appropriate.
Ou’s purported inability to face her relatives due to Lai’s comments exemplifies the repression and hostility that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) represents — the party is intolerant of anything that contradicts its narrative.
Ou’s criticism of a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president is understandable, given the cuts to the classical Chinese curriculum initiated by the previous DPP administration. However, Ou labeling the cuts as “desinicization” is telling.
Taiwan still struggles with a lack of consensus on national identity. While for some there is a distinction between being culturally and linguistically Chinese on the one hand and politically Chinese on the other, others see no difference.
Although Taiwanese have the right to consider themselves “Chinese,” including politically, public servants — especially teachers — should refrain from statements or allusions to that effect while at work or in the public sphere. The salaries of public servants are paid by the government through tax, so they should be politically neutral on the outside.
Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) last week said that while he respects teachers’ freedom of expression, they should maintain a clear sense of national consciousness and identity. Cheng’s statement seems to overlook the lack of consensus on matters, but the spirit of the comment is correct. People employed by the state should act in the collective best interest of the nation.
Taiwanese are averse to the thought of the nation falling under Chinese rule, so Beijing’s threats to make unification happen — by force if necessary — and to punish, even execute, those advocating independence, make China a hostile foreign force in the eyes of most Taiwanese.
Taipei has recently begun cracking down on artists and content creators who publicly advocate for China’s use of military force in annexing Taiwan, even deporting Chinese who do so, but teachers who criticize the government or praise the CCP on Chinese state television are the same, if not worse, as young students are easily influenced, and national identity takes root in schools through curricula about history and shared experiences.
There are concerns that the laws do not stipulate adequate punishments for people who collude with China, while judges often impose light or deferred sentences for such acts. Lai has sought to address that by proposing the reinstatement of military tribunals for national security cases involving armed forces personnel. For cases involving civilians, the Mainland Affairs Council has suggested the establishment of a special court with judges who specialize in national security.
The government should ensure that teachers — and other public-sector workers — act in the public’s best interest and that they are strictly punished for acts of sedition or collusion with China.
On Monday, the day before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed on her visit to China, the party released a promotional video titled “Only with peace can we ‘lie flat’” to highlight its desire to have peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, its use of the expression “lie flat” (tang ping, 躺平) drew sarcastic comments, with critics saying it sounded as if the party was “bowing down” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Amid the controversy over the opposition parties blocking proposed defense budgets, Cheng departed for China after receiving an invitation from the CCP, with a meeting with
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is leading a delegation to China through Sunday. She is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing tomorrow. That date coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which marked a cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations. Staging their meeting on this date makes it clear that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intends to challenge the US and demonstrate its “authority” over Taiwan. Since the US severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, it has relied on the TRA as a legal basis for all
A delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials led by Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is to travel to China tomorrow for a six-day visit to Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing, which might end with a meeting between Cheng and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The trip was announced by Xinhua news agency on Monday last week, which cited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) as saying that Cheng has repeatedly expressed willingness to visit China, and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Xi have extended an invitation. Although some people have been speculating about a potential Xi-Cheng
The ongoing Iran conflict is putting Taiwan’s energy fragility on full display — the island of 23 million people, home to the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing, is highly dependent on imported oil and gas, especially that from the Middle East. In 2025, 69.6 percent of Taiwan’s crude oil and 38.7 percent of liquified natural gas were sourced from the Middle East. In the same year, 62 percent of crude oil and 34 percent of LNG to Taiwan went through the Strait of Hormuz. Taiwan’s state-run oil company CPC Corp’s benchmark crude oil price (70 percent Dubai, 30 percent Brent)
RSS