In light of the social confrontation following the presidential election, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (
Shen's remarks against the DPP have brought criticism not only from the party but also from former president Lee Teng-hui (
Shen's specious remarks have been interpreted as an attempt to curry favor with pro-blue voters in Taipei, so as to pave the way for a bid in the 2006 Taipei mayoral election. An even bigger mistake was the failure to see political realities and to wrongly link loving Taiwan to ethnicity. Who says that loving Taiwan is the preserve of any one ethnic group?
The DPP's traditional supporters are Hoklo -- descendants of immigrants from the southern region of China's Fujian Province, also known as Minnan. There is a clear distinction between the Hakka and the indigenous peoples here on the one hand and the Hoklo on the other, due to their historical conflicts in the early phase of Taiwan's development. Hence, Chinese leaders have always cooperated with the Hakka whenever the Hoklo started a rebellion. The Qing government even granted the title of "loyal citizens" to the Hakka who sacrificed themselves during fights with the Hoklo.
The reason why indigenous peoples feel they have been unfairly treated by the Hoklo is that throughout history, their land has been exploited by the Hoklo, Taiwan's largest ethnic group . This was well understood by the KMT government. When it moved to Taiwan in 1949 and was faced with the Hoklo group, which made up 70 percent of the local population, they made it their strategy to promote people of Hakka descent, secure the support of indigenuous peoples and isolate the Hoklo. The Hakka and the indigenuous peoples thus became part of the KMT's traditional support base.
Taiwanese politics are still troubled by the ethnicity issue. Fortunately, during the recent presidential election, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) nurtured an emerging but still weak Taiwanese national consciuousness in order to oppose China's missile deployment and pro-China politicians in Taiwan. He promoted love for Taiwan and broke down ethnic barriers, thereby gaining more support from the Hakka community.
If we want to thoroughly break the curse of ethnicity and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) strategy of isolating the Hoklo, we need an ethnicity-transcending political platform and mind-set. Only by uniting under the banner of national consciousness can we become one instead of fragmenting into different ethnic groups. The most powerful slogan for crossing the ethnic divide is "Love Taiwan."
But if we believe that loving Taiwan is the preserve of the DPP, which uses it to manipulate ethnic groups, doesn't that mean that no ethnic group but the Hoklo loves Taiwan? Shen is wrong. The Hoklo can indeed love Taiwan, but Mainlander descendants are of course also capable of loving Taiwan. And they should.
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to