Taiwan lifted martial law many years ago, but the pan-blue media, which represent the feudal forces, apparently have not lifted their martial law. Over the past few days, many foreigners who witnessed the martial-law era were back in Taiwan to attend seminars and visit the places where human-rights violations were committed. Many of these people had been blacklisted by the authorities because of their sympathy for Taiwan's democracy movement.
Today, there is a different political party in power. We believe these friends of Taiwan must be very sad as they look back at the past. But the absence of other friends from the "A Journey of Remembrance and Appreciation" conference has raised some questions. One person notable by her absence was Tina Chou (
Chou's reporter's license was revoked by the Government Information Office (GIO) after she voiced suspicions in her reports about the role of the Taiwan Garrison Command in the 1981 death of Carnegie Mellon associate professor Chen Wen-cheng (
Even setting aside the question of whether Soong's personal fears may have somehow influenced Chou's decision, it is clear the pan-blue media -- including the China Times and the United Daily News -- still have the martial law mindset of Soong's GIO days. Neither paper saw a need to report on the conferences or the visits of so many old foreign friends. It is as if these papers exist in some parallel universe.
Most voters are forgetful -- and conservative. This is why corrupt and venal officials can still get elected by re-packaging themselves. Martial law was lifted more than 10 years ago but the roles that Soong and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Indeed, Soong has been the eternal "Director-General Soong" of the GIO. The pan-blue media's journalistic judgments are based on Soong's personal interests. This reminds us of a comment from KMT spokesperson Alex Tsai (
For 50 years people were used to reading the pro-China pan-blue media. They view the pan-blue media's ideological framework as normal and take it for granted. They don't notice the brainwashing going on. Any media with a Taiwanese awareness are criticized as "extremist" and "biased."
The furor over the Special Report VCDs showed just how petulant the pan-blue media -- and politicians -- can be when its weaknesses and bias are exposed. They can dish it out, but they can't take it. The VCD incident reminds us: the message disseminated by the pan-blue media, which represent the ancien regime, is full of poison.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS