As expected, Taiwan's participation in the Olympic Games in Athens has become the target of various crude attempts at oppression by the Chinese government. Even though the Olympic flame, which represents the Olympic Spirit, has not yet returned to Athens and there is still a week to go before the official opening of the games, the Chinese government is already displaying its overbearing political arrogance in an attempt to make the name "Taiwan" less visible, or even disappear completely.
Vice President Annette Lu (
Premier Yu Shyi-kun also advised the public to raise their psychological defenses. He lamented incidences like A-mei's (
In the run-up to the departure of the nation's Olympic team, the government has sought to use announcements and advertisements posted around Athens to increase awareness of Taiwan within the international community at this global sports event. However, the Beijing authorities were quick to put pressure on a preparatory committee for the Athens Olympics, asking them to remove everything that Taiwan had posted.
In the case of A-Mei, her songs are popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and they encourage ties of friendship within the Chinese-speaking community. She is also a source of pride for Taiwan and Beijing becomes incensed with, and wants to destroy anything that Taiwanese can take pride in. Now that the athletes representing Taiwan are preparing to set off for the games, they take with them the hopes and support of 23 million Taiwanese. The nation has high hopes for the baseball team in particular, which has provided a real morale boost for our society. Rest assured, however, that Beijing will employ every means at its disposal to put pressure on the Taiwanese team over the course of the Athens games.
The relationship between the two sides of the Strait has developed as a result of complex historical and geopolitical factors. The conflicts between politicians on both sides shift according to these objective factors and subjective perceptions. But the lives of ordinary people are constantly being disrupted by politics to the extent that they have become the victims of the political process. Ordinary people on both sides of the Strait now follow the examples of politicians in constraining each other's actions. The result of this is that the Strait will become a gulf that cuts one society off from the other.
The joy of an athlete's victory and sharing the emotions of their countrymen -- whether in success or failure -- is one of the best ways of developing a national community. Beijing consciously rejects the humanism embodied in this idea, and insists on barbarically oppressing Taiwan's attempts to rise up.
Taiwan does not need to resort to mobilizing politicians or initiate struggles between political parties to resolve this situation. The government simply needs to encourage excellence and competitiveness in a number of high-profile sports. As our athletes compete with their international peers and excel, the contrast between China's political oppression and the light of Taiwan's humanism will be seen the international stage.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then