Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday urged people to be more understanding and tolerant about issues raised by history, adding that politicians should not use the past to foment conflict and provoke confrontation.
Tsai made the remarks in response to media requests for comment on the controversy sparked by an interview former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) gave to a Japanese magazine.
Lee is reported to have said that as Taiwan was then a part of Japan, Taiwanese did not fight Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) because at that time, Taiwanese were fighting for Japan, which they viewed as their motherland.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“Each generation and ethnic group in Taiwan has lived a different history, and therefore their memories, experience and interpretations of the past are not the same,” Tsai said yesterday. “When a nation faces such a situation, we have to maintain an attitude of understanding, so that we can learn from history, instead of using what happened as a tool for manipulating rivalry and social division.”
She said that the nation’s tragedy over the past few centuries has been that Taiwanese have been unable to wrest control of the nation’s destiny.
“Now we are a democratic and free nation, and everyone has the right to choose; therefore it is our shared task to defend our freedom and democracy,” Tsai said. “No one should sabotage our freedom and democracy by stirring up rivalry — I believe the public is mature and is capable of facing the issues that history throws up.”
Photo: CNA
However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday added to her barrage of attacks on Lee over his comments about Japan, and pressed Tsai to publicly express her stance on the issue.
Responding to Tsai’s remarks that people should view other people’s feelings about their histories with understanding, Hung on Friday night said that she “does not agree with” this kind of statement and questioned whether Tsai would “abandon Lee” if voters began to see a vote for her as a vote for Lee.
In response to Tsai’s comment that it is a tragedy that Taiwanese have been unable to choose their own destinies in the past few hundred years, Hung yesterday said: “It is the misfortune of Taiwanese to be too busy throwing mud and vilifying each other to be able to focus on how to overcome economic hardship and fight together.”
When asked whether her recent criticism of Lee was really an attempt to vilify Tsai, Hung said that as Lee clearly has high expectations of Tsai, Tsai should make clear her relationship with him and explain to the public whether she supports Lee’s ideas.
Hung was particularly fierce when speaking in front of Republic of China veterans on Friday in Hsinchu, lashing out at Lee for “saying Taiwan belongs to Japan as a former president.”
“Are you not pissed off? Do you not hate him?” she asked the veterans.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source