Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators asked yesterday for the military to stop sing war songs honoring China or the Chinese.
"Taiwan's war songs must be de-sinicized. It is very ridiculous to sing war songs such as China Must Be Strong (
"The Ministry of National Defense has regulated a total of 180 war songs sung in the military. Most of them honor China or the Chinese," Lin and Hsueh said.
JULY 1 DEADLINE
"We are asking the ministry to ban those songs before July 1," the two lawmakers said.
Lin along with fellow DPP lawmakers Chai Trong (
The ministry said that as of March 1, I Love Chunghwa would no longer be sung.
Lin said several war songs that commemorate Chiang Kai-shek (
`NOT FAVORITES' LIST
Lin said there are 10 pro-China but anti-Taiwan songs which must be immediately banned, including China Must Be Strong, China Is Strong Because Of Me (有我在中國一定強), Chinese Exist All Over The World (四海都有中國人), The Hearts Of Chinese Parents (中國父母心), The Chinese Camel (中國駱駝), Chinese (中國人), Everlasting Big Love (千秋大愛), Whampoa War Song (黃埔戰歌), War Song Of Our Age (時代的戰歌) and The Air Force Hero (空軍英雄).
Those songs have too many Chinese elements in them, such as "We are new age Chinese youth," "I am dying for China" or "I am the Chinese air force," and they confuse our soldiers as to who their enemies are, Lin said.
Hsueh said while China enacted "Anti-Secession" Law, threatening to use military force against Taiwan, the nation's military still sings war songs cheering for China or Chinese.
"Is there anything more absurd than this?" she said.
ANTI-JAPANESE LYRICS
In addition, Lin said, Taiwan views Japan as a strategic partner and the US and Japan have said they see the Taiwan Strait as a common strategic objective, yet a Japanese delegation watching this year's military exercise would hear Taiwanese soldiers singing I Won't Go Back to My Hometown If Japanese are not Expelled (
Both Lin and Hsueh said they would ask the ministry to compose new marching songs which would better represent Taiwan's spirit and promote the military's morale.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS