A politician and academics yesterday criticized KMT leaders for comparing Afghanistan to Taiwan, asking whether the KMT had forgotten that it fled China and committed atrocities in Taiwan during the White Terror era.
“It was nauseating for me to hear the KMT using what is happening in Afghanistan to mock Taiwanese,” independent Taipei City Councilor Lin Ying-Meng (林穎孟) wrote on Facebook yesterday. “Actually, if it had not fled to Taiwan, the KMT would have been totally wiped out by Chinese communist troops.”
“KMT leaders really have no shame,” she said. “They exploit the tragic events in which Afghan people have suffered death and devastation, with a self-indulgent attitude ... to taunt Taiwanese. Most of the public are disgusted by their remarks, but the KMT’s people believe they are the conquering heroes.”
When the KMT fled to Taiwan, it prolonged the Chinese Civil War, she said, adding: “It is the KMT who brought the war they were engaged in to Taiwan.”
It is a perversion of history to claim that the KMT was safeguarding Taiwan, Lin said.
“When they arrived in Taiwan, they committed atrocities and massacred Taiwanese. Then the KMT imposed a fascist dictatorship on Taiwan,” she said.
Tsai Tung-chieh (蔡東杰), a professor of international relations at National Chung Hsing University said that comparing Taiwan to Afghanistan, “is too simplistic, and lacks logic. It might be valid, if the US was withdrawing all American troops from around the world, or Taiwan-US relations were going downhill.”
“Yet right now, the US still has many troops and bases ... around the world, and Washington is likely to reinforce its military presence in Asia-Pacific region, in the post-Afghanistan war era. Therefore Taiwan would benefit ... as the US pivots to the Asia-Pacific to preserve regional security,” Tsai said.
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Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
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Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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