Prior to World War II, Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany declared that Austrians and Germans were of the same race and spoke the same language, and the inclusion of Austria in the Third Reich was therefore a holy mission. In an attempt to oppose Germany's blatant ambition to invade Austria, a referendum was planned for March 1938 to let Austrians decide their own future through peaceful and democratic means. On the eve of the referendum, Germany invaded and then annexed Austria.
Shortly thereafter, Hitler declared that the people in the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia were descendants of the German people and that the region should be returned to Germany. Because Great Britain and France feared a military conflict with Germany, then-British prime minister Neville Chamberlain and French prime minister Edouard Daladier signed a treaty with Hitler in September 1938, agreeing to the German annexation of the Sudetenland. Czechoslovakia, which was not invited to the treaty meeting, was forced to accept the deal by London and Paris, who said they would not intervene should the issue lead to war between Germany and Czechoslovakia.
On his return from Munich, Chamberlain said he had engineered an exchange that would give Europe a generation of peace. Hitler, however, promptly occupied all of Czechoslovakia. In 1939, he used the excuse that Gdansk was German territory to invade Poland. Two days later the UK and France declared war on Germany and World War II began in Europe.
Looking back at that time, the Nazis were encouraged not only by German nationalism, but the naive appeasement of both Britain and France. Even Russia signed a non-aggression treaty with Germany right before the Germans invaded Poland. As a result, Hitler feared nothing.
China's claims to sovereignty over Tibet, Xinjiang, the Tiaoyutai and even Taiwan -- and the rhetoric Beijing uses -- is shockingly similar to Nazi Germany and its claims on its neighbors.
Beijing has passed a law -- the "Anti-Secession" Law -- to authorize war and legitimize future military expansion. The law is clearly aimed at Taiwan. In the past few years, Chinese nationalists have repeatedly asked, "Where should the sea port for China's warships be -- in the Taiwan Strait or the Pacific Ocean?" The question is where will China stop? Will it also lay claim to Singapore and Penang as overseas territories of China on the grounds that Chinese people have historically resided there?
Moreover, the attitude of Europe's current leaders toward the autocratic Chinese regime is astonishingly similar to those of Chamberlain and Daladier when dealing with Hitler. French and German political leaders should learn from history when dealing with the cross-strait issue and the lifting of the EU arms embargo on China in order to avoid a repeat of the tragic Munich Pact.
Although Taiwan is a long way from Europe, its passionate pursuit for democracy and freedom is not any different from that of the EU's member states. When it comes to the cross-strait issue, the EU leaders' callous disregard for a democratic nation in Asia is tragic. We can only hope it does not lead to a greater tragedy.
Chinese actor Alan Yu (于朦朧) died after allegedly falling from a building in Beijing on Sept. 11. The actor’s mysterious death was tightly censored on Chinese social media, with discussions and doubts about the incident quickly erased. Even Hong Kong artist Daniel Chan’s (陳曉東) post questioning the truth about the case was automatically deleted, sparking concern among overseas Chinese-speaking communities about the dark culture and severe censorship in China’s entertainment industry. Yu had been under house arrest for days, and forced to drink with the rich and powerful before he died, reports said. He lost his life in this vicious
George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This article will help readers avoid repeating mistakes by examining four examples from the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces and the Republic of China (ROC) forces that involved two city sieges and two island invasions. The city sieges compared are Changchun (May to October 1948) and Beiping (November 1948 to January 1949, renamed Beijing after its capture), and attempts to invade Kinmen (October 1949) and Hainan (April 1950). Comparing and contrasting these examples, we can learn how Taiwan may prevent a war with
A recent trio of opinion articles in this newspaper reflects the growing anxiety surrounding Washington’s reported request for Taiwan to shift up to 50 percent of its semiconductor production abroad — a process likely to take 10 years, even under the most serious and coordinated effort. Simon H. Tang (湯先鈍) issued a sharp warning (“US trade threatens silicon shield,” Oct. 4, page 8), calling the move a threat to Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” which he argues deters aggression by making Taiwan indispensable. On the same day, Hsiao Hsi-huei (蕭錫惠) (“Responding to US semiconductor policy shift,” Oct. 4, page 8) focused on
In South Korea, the medical cosmetic industry is fiercely competitive and prices are low, attracting beauty enthusiasts from Taiwan. However, basic medical risks are often overlooked. While sharing a meal with friends recently, I heard one mention that his daughter would be going to South Korea for a cosmetic skincare procedure. I felt a twinge of unease at the time, but seeing as it was just a casual conversation among friends, I simply reminded him to prioritize safety. I never thought that, not long after, I would actually encounter a patient in my clinic with a similar situation. She had
RSS