The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday at a news conference called for replacing the national anthem.
The current national anthem was based on the words of Republic of China (ROC) founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) in 1924 for use by the ROC Military Academy (then known as the Whampoa Military Academy), and was later adopted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as its party song, TSU Chairman Lau I-te (劉一德) said.
The song was then adopted as the ROC national anthem by an executive order in 1930, he said.
Photo: CNA
“Singing this anthem is enough to make people crazy. [President] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been in office for five years now — it is ridiculous that we are still singing this anthem,” he said.
Taiwan New Constitution Foundation executive director Lin Yi-cheng (林宜正) and Taiwan Society chairman Chang Yeh-shen (張葉森) also attended the new conference.
Liu said the group was planning 15 to 20 more conferences nationwide in the coming months.
The inseparability of the anthem from the KMT is evident in its opening lines: “Three principles of the people, the foundation of our party. Through this, we establish the republic,” he said.
“Not all Taiwanese are members of the KMT, but we all have to sing along. That is quite strange,” he added.
During the administration of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the Democratic Progressive Party lacked a legislative majority, and thus was unable to change the anthem, but this is no longer the case under the current administration, he said, urging Tsai to take action.
Lin said he had not sung the national anthem since learning about its origins in high school, and that he, like many other Taiwanese, had no emotional connection to the anthem.
The anthem was adopted by a non-democratic government 83 years ago and is out of touch with modern-day Taiwan, which has experienced 30 years of democratization, he said, adding that 83 percent of Taiwanese see themselves as “Taiwanese,” and not “Chinese.”
“Do not underestimate the importance of a national anthem’s development. Look at France’s La Marseillaise and the US’ Star Spangled Banner — those anthems can rouse emotions,” he said.
Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait should be only an interim solution, he said, adding that a new national anthem could better represent Taiwanese.
Chang said the current national anthem is “disgraceful” and has caused a rift among Taiwanese.
“Even the president refuses to utter the line ‘the foundation of our party’ when singing the anthem. Taiwanese need an anthem they can proudly sing,” he said.
LIABILITIES MULLED: New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi said Taipei would find out if the firm was legally registered, the guide was licensed and the weather was assessed The assets of Tian Da Local Nature Co are to be frozen after at least four people died after falling into the Beishi River (北勢溪) on an outing the company had organized on Saturday, the Taipei City Government said yesterday. Six people — two adults and four children — were washed away by a flash flood on the river in New Taipei City’s Hubaotan (虎豹潭) area. They were participating in a Nature Joy Camp outdoor activity with a group of 16 adults and 15 children led by a guide surnamed Su (蘇). As of 4:30pm yesterday, four of the missing had been
Taiwanese worked more hours than people in all but three other countries in the world last year, Ministry of Labor data showed. Singapore placed first in average hours worked among the 40 economies surveyed, with an average of 2,288 hours per worker last year, the data showed. The city-state was followed by Colombia with 2,172 hours — based on 2019 data — and Mexico with 2,124 hours, it showed. Taiwan came in fourth, with 2,021 hours, it showed. South Korean workers clocked the third-most hours in Asia, with 1,908 hours, followed by Japan with 1,598 hours, it showed. However, compared with 2019, the survey found
The US 7th Fleet yesterday confirmed that a US Navy ship transited the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday. “The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey [DDG 105] conducted a Taiwan Strait transit in cooperation with Royal Canadian Navy [RCN] Halifax-class frigate, HMCS Winnipeg, October 14-15, 2021,” the US 7th Fleet said in a statement. “Dewey’s and Winnipeg’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the commitment of the United States and our allies and partners to a free and open Indo-Pacific. Cooperation like this represents the centerpiece of our approach to a secure and prosperous region,” it added. The transit marked the
‘COUNTERPRODUCTIVE’: The German, French and Singaporean missions said that Taiwan’s COVID-19 restrictions are hindering local projects and business operations Several foreign missions in Taiwan have urged the government to ease its strict COVID-19 border controls, which they say are hurting in-person exchanges and business operations. The missions made the appeal in response to media inquiries on how the border controls have affected their respective countries’ exchanges with Taiwan, amid growing concerns voiced privately by Taiwan-based foreign offices and businesses regarding the restrictions. Taiwan has maintained strict entry requirements since March last year, generally prohibiting most arrivals except for citizens and foreign residents, while it has required those who enter the country to undergo a stringent 14-day quarantine. Although the rules have been
RSS