Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday compared the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to Germany under Hitler, leading to the German Institute Taipei expressing its “deep disappointment and concern” in a social media post.
At a meeting of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee yesterday, Chu drew parallels between the DPP under President William Lai (賴清德) now and the fascism of Germany under Hitler and Italy’s Benito Mussolini in the 1930s.
The comments came the day before the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender in World War II today, memorialized in some nations as “Victory in Europe Day.”
Photo: Taipei Times file photo
Lai claims to uphold democracy but is using judicial means to “eliminate” the opposition with the goal of becoming a dictator, Chu said, just like the Nazi’s manipulated legal procedures to dismantle democracy and eliminate dissent in pre-war Germany.
Chu was referring to the questioning of several KMT staffers and searches of KMT offices around Taiwan by prosecutors for alleged petition fraud in recall campaigns against DPP politicians.
In an English-language post on its Facebook page, the German Institute Taipei, the overseas representative office of Germany, said “We must state unequivocally: Taiwan today is in no way comparable to the tyranny of National Socialism [the Nazi Party].”
“We respectfully call on the KMT leadership to refrain from invoking inappropriate and historically insensitive comparisons in domestic political discourse,” it added.
In an interview today, Chu said that foreign governments should not seek to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, adding that his comparison was legitimate given Lai’s “persecution” of the opposition.
“History teaches us a vital lesson: while democracies may give rise to fascism, fascism always destroys democracy, tramples human rights, and devastates societies,” Chu said on Facebook today.
“[The KMT] will continue to defend the constitutional democracy of the Republic of China and work alongside all freedom-loving people to ensure that Taiwan’s future remains free from oppression by those in power,” Chu added.
The Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said Chu’s comments were extremely offensive and unacceptable to the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust and those who survived the experience.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Ming-chi (陳明祺) agreed with the institute’s statement, saying that Chu’s analogy was not appropriate.
Chen said the government is going to explain to every European country’s office in Taipei that “this is not the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan.”
Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) also said Chu’s comment is inappropriate as he should not compare the prosecutors’ investigations with genocide.
Department of European Affairs Deputy-Director Lin Chu-en (林主恩) said the Nazi’s extreme ideology led to genocide and ethnic cleansing and that was a part of Germany’s painful history.
The painful history of authoritarian rule, colonial rule, war or military conflict experienced by other country or nations should not be used as an offensive, said Lai Chun-chao (賴俊兆), director of Executive Yuan’s Department of Human Rights and Transitional Justice.
DPP Legislator Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) called on Chu to apologize not only to Germany but also the Taiwanese public for his comments, saying that Nazis should not be invoked as “political rhetoric” or “election fodder.”
This comes less than one month after a man leading a recall campaign against a DPP legislator wore a Nazi armband and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf into the New Taipei District Prosecutors' Office when summoned for questioning.
At the time, Chu said that the act was intended to “satirize the DPP dictatorship,” although the KMT did make a formal statement “firmly opposing” fascism the following day.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan, Fang Wei-li, Hsieh Chun-lin, Shih Hsiao-kuang, Chung Li-hua and Fion Khan
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS