The Taipei City Government has embraced China’s “united front” rhetoric, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party said yesterday, after China’s lantern displays were not placed in the foreign exhibit area of the Taiwan Lantern Festival.
It has been 23 years since Taipei last hosted the Taiwan Lantern Festival, but the event was plagued with unfortunate decisions, Taipei chapter convener Wu Hsin-tai (吳欣岱) said.
Citing the example of the lantern exhibit presented by Shanghai, Wu said that she was uncertain as to why the exhibit was not included in the foreign exhibit area and required a police detail.
Photo: Liu Hsin-te, Taipei Times
Wu said that when visiting the area, she was handed a brochure packet that included a reusable bag made by the Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Straits, with “Beautiful zhonghua” (美麗中華) written on the front.
The bag also contained brochures inviting people to visit Wuhan, while raffle prizes would include official lanterns made by the Taiwan Lantern Festival, Wu said.
The contents of the packet begs the question of whether the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism was promoting China or Taipei, she said.
Information about Shanghai’s exhibit could not be found on the official Web site, Wu said, adding that at the event, the lantern was exhibited bearing the official logo of Taipei and the department.
Taiwan Statebuilding Party Chairman Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) said it was “infuriating” that Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) was making friendly overtures toward China, but it was hardly surprising.
Wang also criticized the government’s NT$3 million (US$99,549) annual budget for the maintenance of the tombs of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son, former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), in Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪).
Tangentially affirming the authority of the two Chiangs is to “abandon transitional justice” and harm “self-identification as Taiwanese,” Wang said.
Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo ruled Taiwan as “Chinese colonizers,” and their tombs in Dasi show that they never identified as Taiwanese, Wang said, adding that the government’s use of taxpayers’ money to support pro-China sentiment pours salt on old wounds.
Chiang Wan-an has said he is the grandson of Chiang Ching-kuo, a claim that the remaining members of the Chiang family have not confirmed.
Wang said that Taiwan’s transitional justice should not stop at transitioning to a democratic government, but should also step up efforts to transition away from identifying as Chinese and instead embrace Taiwanese identity.
How the nation identifies is the first lesson of Taiwanese politics, Wang said.
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