Are Taiwan and China two different countries? The answer is yes and no. It is yes when China vows to reunite with Taiwan. It is no when China's parliament plans to enact an "anti-secession" law to prevent the "split" of Taiwan from China.
One cannot help but wonder what has gotten into the minds of Chinese leaders in Beijing. They are not only delusional, but also deranged. Or they are sales geniuses.
In the draft of the anti-secession law, it mandates an invasion of Taiwan if Taiwan achieves a complete "independent" status or if efforts toward peaceful unification are exhausted. The whole draft mentions only Taiwan; the Republic of China (ROC) has completely disappeared.
The pan-blue camp has generally played down the impact of the law or scoffed at pro-independence figures for inviting China's legal warfare. The pan-blues couldn't care less that its beloved ROC has completely disappeared from the mindset and language of China's National People's Congress delegates.
China's enactment of the law is a living testament that even the status quo -- an indefinite delay on unification -- could trigger an attack from China.
China is trying to play a semantic word game using words like "secession" and non-peaceful for its propaganda aims. And China's strategy -- to box in Taiwan under the ROC -- is very clear and clever.
China's marketing and packaging may become more sophisticated, but its sale to the Taiwanese remains a fat chance.
Yang Ji charng
Columbus, Ohio
Prior to marrying a Taiwanese and moving to Taiwan, a Chinese woman, surnamed Zhang (張), used her elder sister’s identity to deceive Chinese officials and obtain a resident identity card in China. After marrying a Taiwanese, surnamed Chen (陳) and applying to move to Taiwan, Zhang continued to impersonate her sister to obtain a Republic of China ID card. She used the false identity in Taiwan for 18 years. However, a judge ruled that her case does not constitute forgery and acquitted her. Does this mean that — as long as a sibling agrees — people can impersonate others to alter, forge
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers on Monday unilaterally passed a preliminary review of proposed amendments to the Public Officers Election and Recall Act (公職人員選罷法) in just one minute, while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, government officials and the media were locked out. The hasty and discourteous move — the doors of the Internal Administration Committee chamber were locked and sealed with plastic wrap before the preliminary review meeting began — was a great setback for Taiwan’s democracy. Without any legislative discussion or public witnesses, KMT Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), the committee’s convener, began the meeting at 9am and announced passage of the
In the weeks following the 2024 US presidential election, I have received one question more than any other from friends in Taiwan — how will Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House affect Taiwan and cross-Strait relations? Some Taiwan counterparts have argued that Trump hates China, so therefore he will support Taiwan, according to the logic that the enemy of one’s enemy is a friend. Others have expressed anxiety that Trump will put pressure on Taiwan to dramatically increase defense spending, or to compensate the United States for allegedly “stealing” America’s semiconductor sector. While I understand these hopes and concerns, I
In response to a failure to understand the “good intentions” behind the use of the term “motherland,” a professor from China’s Fudan University recklessly claimed that Taiwan used to be a colony, so all it needs is a “good beating.” Such logic is risible. The Central Plains people in China were once colonized by the Mongolians, the Manchus and other foreign peoples — does that mean they also deserve a “good beating?” According to the professor, having been ruled by the Cheng Dynasty — named after its founder, Ming-loyalist Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功, also known as Koxinga) — as the Kingdom of Tungning,
RSS