Commenting on recent celebrations surrounding the 80th anniversary of the Whampoa Military Academy, former president Lee Teng-hui (
Speaking during a leadership-training class at the Lee Teng-hui School, the former president said: "The Whampoa spirit is history. What does it mean today? Basically, it's not applicable to contemporary society."
The Whampoa Military Academy is the predecessor of the current Chinese Military Academy in Fengshan, Kaohsiung County. It was established in 1924 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, and produced many elite personnel who fought in the 1937-1945 Sino-Japanese War.
Lee said Taiwanese society has changed a great deal over the past five decades and he urged future leaders to pay heed to history as they take up the challenges of the future.
Lee stressed that changes in political power are a common phenomenon in history and he urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to accept having lost the presidential election.
"The KMT was in power for more than 50 years. Although it has been replaced, it still refuses to accept its defeat and makes a lot of excuses. What's the big problem with everyone taking turns as president?" Lee said.
Lee said the most important factors in determining a nation's prosperity or decay are its identity, its goals and the quality of its leaders.
Lee ascribed certain social problems to an insufficient identification with Taiwan as a nation.
"Many foreigners wonder why Taiwan was in such chaos [after the presidential election]. It was because 85 percent of the people were afraid of 15 percent of the people -- Mainlanders -- who don't recognize Taiwan [as an independent country]."
Lee also said that 50 years of indoctrination by the party-state played a role in people's lacking the ability to oppose an alien regime.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS