TES chair’s pro-Beijing remarks stirs controversyTaipei European School (TES) chairman C.V. Chen (陳長文) has sparked controversy with his pro-unification stance and criticism of President William Lai (賴清德) declaring that China is a “foreign hostile force” in a commentary in the school’s yearbook.
Chen’s comments prompted complaints from some TES parents, who said it was inappropriate for Chen to air his personal political opinions in a school publication.
In the “A Message from Dr C.V. Chen” section titled “Taking the World’s Temperature,” published in Chinese and English, Chen wrote: “Taiwan has been seeing more military drills conducted by the [Chinese] People’s Liberation Army. The escalation came after President William Lai labeled ‘China’ a ‘foreign hostile force.’”
Photo: Kan Meng-lin, Taipei Times
“He has made his party’s central ideology ‘Taiwan independence’ Taiwan’s ideology, while neglecting his constitutional duty as the president to unify Taiwan and mainland China ... through promoting a ‘better system as a prerequisite for unification,’” he wrote.
“But what he should keep in mind is Taiwan and mainland China are of the same blood and share the same language, and there is still substantial economic interdependence between the two,” he wrote. “If given the choice, the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait would choose peace, not war.”
Chen cited as an example the European Coal and Steel Community, the precursor to the EU, which was formed in 1950 after World War II when leaders in West Germany and France “dared to dream that the two countries could pursue lasting peace together.”
If these two nations could let go of past conflicts and cooperate, “there is no reason Taiwan and the mainland cannot dream of a diverse yet unified integration,” Chen wrote.
One of the TES parents told reporters: “We have always known that Chen is very ‘blue’ in his political stance,” referring to the pro-China “pan-blue” political camp.
“However, it is too much for him to use our school’s publication to express his personal views. Many parents also felt very uncomfortable, with some even calling it ‘nauseating,’” the parent said.
Chen has infringed on at least three points, the parent added.
“First, it is not appropriate to use our school publication to criticize President Lai as ‘contravening his constitutional duty’; it is not the medium for him to do so. Second, Chen espoused ‘unification between Taiwan and China,’ but this is not the mainstream view in our society,” said the TES parent, who declined to be named.
“Third, it is outrageous for Chen to blame Taiwan for China’s increasing verbal and military intimidation of Taiwan,” the parent added. “Chen has violated the principle of education institutions being politically neutral.”
Asked about the complaints, Chen on Friday last week said: “I wrote for the school publication as chairman of the board, to give a commentary on national and worldwide affairs. What is wrong with that? I would like to know.”
Chen said he has written on many topics, including climate change, energy issues and the Russian war in Ukraine, adding that the Constitution guarantees citizens freedom of speech.
Taipei City Councilor Vincent Chao (趙怡翔) of the Democratic Progressive Party said: “It is not proper for any figure to air one’s personal political views in an official school publication, especially for the TES, because its students and members include members of the foreign diplomatic corps, the international business community, and families working for foreign media outlets.”
“It is highly inappropriate to use TES’ yearbook to promote one’s political stance and personal position on the cross-strait situation,” Chao added. “All schools are focused on education, and board members and officials should avoid using the campus or school publications as platforms for advocating their political stance.”
The Taipei Department of Education said that as the yearbook is an “internal publication,” it has told the school to conduct “an internal assessment and, if needed, provide an explanation to society at an appropriate time.”
A well-known lawyer who is the chairman of Lee and Li Attorneys-at-Law, Chen is a close adviser to former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
During the KMT administration, Chen served as secretary of the Straits Exchange Foundation and president of the Red Cross of the Republic of China.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
RSS