On Tuesday, a brawl broke out between a group of Hakka protesters and some ethnic-Hakka opposition legislators at the Legislative Yuan over the pan-blue camp's plan to freeze 80 percent of the budget for the Cabinet-level Council for Hakka Affairs. An explanation from two ethnic-Hakka legislators -- Chun Jung-chi (鍾榮吉) and Chung Shao-ho (鍾紹和) -- saying the opposition had withdrawn the motion to freeze the budget, did little to allay the anger of the Hakka protesters. According to media reports, the two received a few punches and kicks from the protesters.
Everyone knows the machinations of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance. Hakka voters have long been staunch supporters of the pan-blue camp. Now, worried about an apparent shift in their support, the KMT-PFP alliance tried to freeze the Hakka council's budget in an attempt to cut off the council's resources so that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would have no Hakka card to play in the election campaign.
Their action reminds us of one of the pan-blue camp's biggest campaign slogans: ethnic reconciliation. Speaking in Taoyuan, one of the Hakka strongholds, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) on Saturday accused the DPP of discriminating against Hakka people. His remarks were a stark contrast to the opposition camp's attempt to freeze the council's budget. The KMT-PFP camp apparently thinks Taiwanese voters are dumb.
Only disadvantaged groups and victims of discrimination are qualified to talk about "ethnic reconciliation." It is laughable that the KMT, after exercising White Terror and authoritarian rule for decades, is now suddenly espousing ethnic reconciliation in the election campaign.
The KMT has been very good at creating taboos and using them as their protective umbrella. In the past authoritarian era, under the "everyone is Chinese" assimilation policy, people were distinguished by their "provincial ancestry" from cradle to grave, but they were not allowed to discuss ethnic issues. Today, the authoritarian system is gone, but the KMT continues to mobilize the local media, most of which is controlled by mainlanders, to create another ethnic taboo. Whoever dares to challenge this taboo is a sinner.
Ethnic issues involve vested interests, the power to interpret history, the power to guide culture and the power to allocate resources over the past half century, as well as Taiwan's ultimate problem -- a review of national identity. A political party which committed crimes in the past is now calling for "ethnic reconciliation" and wants everyone to love each other and forget about past grievances. This political party is still very good at propaganda and political manipulation.
Recently, we saw the establishment of an "Ethnic Equality Action Alliance" led by internationally renowned film director Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢). At a press conference to launch the group, National Taiwan University professor Hsia Chu-joe (夏鑄九) quoted the words of Lee Hsing-chang (李幸長), a dumpling franchise operator, accusing pro-DPP voters in southern Taiwan of boycotting his shop and causing his income to fall by 15 percent because he had opposed the DPP government's education reforms. Hsia used those remarks as proof that the DPP was engaging in ethnic mobilization.
Hsia and Lee's accusations are low and shameless. Most people in southern Taiwan do not know Lee, who is not that famous. Their accusations only proved that some people with a strong ethnic consciousness are trying to hide it and accusing others of harboring ethnic consciousness. This has got to be what is most hypocritical and most laughable about the opposition alliance and this ethnic equality alliance.
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
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
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
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS