Taiwan has its own democratic system to counter the ruling party’s autocracy, Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said today, calling on China to stop using force to intimidate Taiwan amid a new wave of Chinese military drills announced this morning.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command released a series of threatening videos and propaganda this morning, including one showing President William Lai (賴清德) choking former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and locking him in jail.
The videos were posted shortly after the PLA began a series of joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan.
Photo from Weibo
Taiwanese have fought for their freedom, democracy and rule of law, and such coercive and threatening tactics by China would only further alienate Taiwanese, Huang said.
In an interview today with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times), Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the drills are a response to new military strategies recently released by the US, which prioritize deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Whenever the international community shows significant support for Taiwan, China uses military exercises to intimidate the nation, Su said.
With the downfall of He Weidong (何衛東), vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, and disappearance of Eastern Theater Command Director Lin Xiangyang (林向陽), the Chinese military is also using drills to control morale, Su said.
While China has made technological advancements, it still releases old-fashioned wartime propaganda, he said, referencing the cartoon of Lai imprisoning Ko.
Such imagery shows a lack of morals and are likely to backfire, harming Ko in the process, he said.
In response to media requests for a comment on the drills, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) appeared to have taken a softer stance on Beijing.
In a separate statement, the KMT called on “the other side [of the Taiwan Strait] to lay down its arms” amid what it called “spiraling hostility across the two sides” of the Taiwan Strait brought about by the Lai administration's national security measures.
In a news conference today, Democratic Progressive Party spokespeople Justin Wu (吳崢) and Han Ying (韓瑩) condemned China’s military threats against Taiwan, saying they unilaterally undermine regional peace and stability.
They questioned why KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) and Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) have recently visited China amid these tensions, accusing the KMT of hypocrisy.
The KMT claims to oppose the Chinese Communist Party, and yet simultaneously aligns with it, even helping China attack Lai, they said.
China released a series of images depicting military drills “advancing” toward Taiwan, blatantly using military intimidation against Taiwanese, Wu said.
These malicious actions show that China is an international “troublemaker” and disrupts regional security, he said.
When Taiwan’s national security is threatened, all political parties have a duty to remain loyal to the nation and protect it, he added.
Additional reporting by Chen Yun and CNA
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS