Xinjiang Chinese Communist Party Secretary Zhang Chunxian (張春賢) yesterday proclaimed that the government had been “broadly successful” in maintaining stability in the region, its “de-radicalization” efforts were working and the “atmosphere for religious extremism has weakened.”
On Thursday, Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) issued a New Year’s greeting to Taiwan that was little more than a thinly veiled threat and an attempt to boost the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) chances in the Jan. 16 presidential and legislative elections.
He said that he hoped Taiwanese realize the gains made under President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration could evaporate if Taiwan defies Beijing’s insistence that it remains a part of the Chinese nation. He also said that the public on both sides of the Taiwan Strait need to be on high alert to “oppose any pro-independence separatist attempts to split Taiwan from China and to sabotage peace and stability.”
While on the surface, the two Zhangs were commenting on very disparate issues, their remarks were a reminder that while the rest of the world was welcoming a new year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not only trying to keep China locked in the party’s fairy-tale nightmare, but also to convince the rest of the world of the truth of its lies.
Beijing has been hard at work for the past decade trying to perpetuate the myth that the civil and religious tensions and violence in Xinjiang have been the result of terrorist acts by Uighur groups akin to al-Qaeda or, more recently, the Islamic State group — much the way it has been accusing the Dalai Lama of encouraging violence in Tibet and inciting “hatred, terror and extremist action” by presiding over Kalachakra initiation ceremonies.
It refuses to admit that the party’s heavy-handed efforts to restrict or outlaw traditional religious and cultural practices by the predominantly Muslim Uighurs and Buddhist Tibetans, its promotion of Han-centric policies and the economic marginalization of Uighurs and Tibetans in their historic lands have anything to do with the unrest in Xinjiang, Tibet and predominantly Tibetan parts of what is now Sichuan Province.
What makes this a matter of concern for Taiwanese, if pure outrage over the abuse of human rights in those two regions was not enough, was that China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee on Sunday approved a new anti-terrorism law that takes effect this month, one that makes it easier for Beijing to label a violent attack as terrorism as well as “thought [or] speech” that aims to “subvert state power” or “split the state.”
While many analysts have focused on Xinjiang when discussing the new law, the CCP clearly had the Dalai Lama in mind when drafting the legislation, since one of its favorite adjectives for him is “splittist.”
Taiwanese need to be concerned because of the frequency with which Zhang Zhijun and others mutter darkly about those who would “split Taiwan from China,” ie, members of the Democratic Progressive Party and other non-KMT followers. They should also remember another Chinese law, the “Anti-Secession” Law passed just over a decade ago, which authorizes Beijing to use force to stop any move by Taiwan toward independence.
Passage of that law drew hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of Taipei on March 26, 2005, to protest against China’s threat.
Taiwanese voters have a chance to make even a stronger protest against Beijing and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) efforts to intimidate them and foment jingoistic patriotism among the Chinese — at the ballot boxes on Jan. 16. It is an opportunity they should not ignore. They should be under no illusion that the repression and state-sanctioned abuse that have been happening in Xinjiang and Tibet could not happen here.
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,
Former minister of culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) has long wielded influence through the power of words. Her articles once served as a moral compass for a society in transition. However, as her April 1 guest article in the New York Times, “The Clock Is Ticking for Taiwan,” makes all too clear, even celebrated prose can mislead when romanticism clouds political judgement. Lung crafts a narrative that is less an analysis of Taiwan’s geopolitical reality than an exercise in wistful nostalgia. As political scientists and international relations academics, we believe it is crucial to correct the misconceptions embedded in her article,
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
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