Nothing could serve as a better example of wasted taxpayers’ money than a TV spot recently sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) to promote the dignity of the Republic of China’s (ROC) national flag, utilizing the tag line “Wherever the national flag is initially located, [it should] remain there.” Apparently the government has not heard of “leading by example.”
If the government had some foresight, and not only deep pockets, it could have avoided making itself a laughingstock by promoting the message to safeguard the national flag from the first day of its tenure, a gesture that comes as second nature for any governing power that takes its nation’s sovereignty seriously.
The TV commercial appears to have backfired. While it seeks to convey a positive image of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government for upholding the dignity of the ROC national flag, it has instead served to remind the public of how unreasonably it has treated people who wave national flags whenever Chinese delegations visit.
For example, recall how the government restricted the public from expressing their love for the ROC flag when Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) visited in November 2008. People waving the national flag were roughed up by police, who boorishly snatched the flags away. Some even had their flag poles snapped in half and their fingers broken.
Halfway through the MAC-sponsored TV commercial, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) face pops into view with a voice-over saying: “Of course the Republic of China is a sovereign country.”
While it may be the council intention to reinforce Ma’s image as a stern head of state asserting the ROC’s sovereignty, it instead reminds viewers that Ma, during his tenure as Taipei mayor in 2002, dissuaded sports fans from displaying ROC flags at the Asian women’s soccer championship.
If Ma doesn’t have the spine to address himself as the ROC president to Chen’s face, how convincing does the Ma government think the TV ad will be with the public?
According to MAC Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛), the TV spot was inspired by an incident early last month in which officials from the Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation asked Kainan University students to take down their 1m high national flag at a game between the Taiwan University All-Stars and China’s Tianjin Polytechnic University.
While Lai’s remarks come as a slap in the face of Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who said at the time that the incident was the result of “some people deliberately provoking disputes by using the [ROC] flag,” they also led many to wonder why the MAC is trying to glorify the national flag at this time — just over a week before the Nov. 27 elections — even though it chose to ignore police officers’ offensive treatment of people flying the ROC flag in the past.
If the Ma government were sincere about upholding the dignity of the ROC national flag, it should keep running the TV spot during Chen’s visit to Taiwan next month. Better yet, when Chen visits Taiwan, his motorcade should be decorated with ROC flags and he should be given an ROC flag as a gift from the nation. Only then would the Taiwanese public be convinced that the Ma government is not just paying lip service with taxpayers’ money.
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention. If it makes headlines, it is because China wants to invade. Yet, those who find their way here by some twist of fate often fall in love. If you ask them why, some cite numbers showing it is one of the freest and safest countries in the world. Others talk about something harder to name: The quiet order of queues, the shared umbrellas for anyone caught in the rain, the way people stand so elderly riders can sit, the
After the coup in Burma in 2021, the country’s decades-long armed conflict escalated into a full-scale war. On one side was the Burmese army; large, well-equipped, and funded by China, supported with weapons, including airplanes and helicopters from China and Russia. On the other side were the pro-democracy forces, composed of countless small ethnic resistance armies. The military junta cut off electricity, phone and cell service, and the Internet in most of the country, leaving resistance forces isolated from the outside world and making it difficult for the various armies to coordinate with one another. Despite being severely outnumbered and
After the confrontation between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday last week, John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, discussed this shocking event in an interview. Describing it as a disaster “not only for Ukraine, but also for the US,” Bolton added: “If I were in Taiwan, I would be very worried right now.” Indeed, Taiwanese have been observing — and discussing — this jarring clash as a foreboding signal. Pro-China commentators largely view it as further evidence that the US is an unreliable ally and that Taiwan would be better off integrating more deeply into
RSS