A Taiwanese group that trumpets its version of German dictator Adolf Hitler's ideals has declared its intention to register as a non-governmental organization.
Hsu Na-chi (許娜綺), the 22-year-old cofounder and spokesman of the National Socialism Association (NSA), claimed the organization has 20 paying members above the age of 20.
Many more participate on the association's forums, many under the cover of anonymity.
Writing in the NSA forum under the handle "Lahn," another founder-member of the NSA insisted the group is not neo-Nazi or racist.
"What Hitler meant by `superior race' is superior cultural content and not biological phenotype," he wrote.
Lahn Chao (
"We have too many high-school and junior-high students and not enough adults," Chao said. "We need more adults in order to qualify for NGO [non-governmental organization] status."
Chao also engages in "cosplay," striking poses in German army garb for pictures which he puts on his Web site. When asked why, despite his claims to be moderate, he still identifies with Nazi ideology, Chao said: "I like the feeling of unity of the period."
Elsewhere on the forum, however, Hsu, writing under the handle "Joshua," promulgated the treatment of immigrant workers and their offspring in terms that seemed disturbingly reminiscent of the Nazis' final solution.
"If foreign laborers have children in Taiwan, the government must exterminate them. In order to stop our genetic stock from further deterioration, strict monitoring and cruel punishments are called for," Joshua wrote.
"What the Republic of China practiced after they came to China is in essence National Socialism," Joshua wrote elsewhere. "Until [former president] LeeTeng-hui [李登輝] took over, Taiwan was wealthy, strong and united."
Hsu and Chao's group is not the only Nazi sympathizers' organization in Taiwan.
Eli Alberts was on his daily commute on the Tamshui MRT line when a smear of red and black caused him to do a double-take.
What Alberts saw was a red swastika flag hanging from a window in an apartment building near the MRT line.
"It is a very ... potent symbol. I couldn't help but notice," Alberts said. "What is it doing in Taipei?"
Alberts' friends in both the Taiwanese and expatriate community tried to reassure him by saying that the flag was probably a tasteless display of "Nazi kitsch," or that perhaps what he saw was actually a Buddhist swastika, an ancient symbol that had been in use long before the rise of Nazism.
"I know what a Buddhist swastika is," Alberts said. "I didn't think that was what I saw."
With Alberts' help, the Taipei Times located the apartment in which the Nazi flag was displayed. It was located in a gated community in Tienmu. A man in his late thirties answered the door and agreed to speak to us, on condition of anonymity.
"Hitler did a lot of bad things which I don't condone, but he also turned Germany from a weak and divided nation into a world power," he said. "I admire that because unity and strength is what Taiwan needs. Democracy and capitalism have their good qualities, but they have left our collective spirit chaotic, flagging and mired in defeatism."
These comments mirrored the rhetoric found on the NSA blog.
"We have seen relentless societal and political chaos since democracy was instituted in this country ... wake up, youths of Taiwan!" an open letter said.
However, the man claimed he had never heard of the NSA and had a view of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) legacy that was diametrically opposed to Hsu's.
"Taiwan used to be a part of the axis as a part of Japan," he said. "Who did more for Taiwan than Goto Shinpei as the governor-general?"
"When the KMT came, they were the brutal occupiers, they oppressed the Taiwanese," the man said.
Asked if he believed he would have fit in society if Taiwan were still under Japanese occupation, the man replied: "I am in contact with hard-right [sic] elements in Japan ... they all love Taiwanese people. If the KMT did not take over Taiwan, I believe that in time we would have been accepted as Japanese."
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to