Outspoken Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) yesterday surprised the ruling party by advising it not to continue to use ethnic issues pertaining to a Taiwanese national identity as a campaign theme in the year-end legislative elections.
Speaking at a press conference entitled "Love Taiwan," Shen urged the party to stop using the "love Taiwan" slogan and issues involving the building of a Taiwanese identity in the December elections.
Shen said that for a long time the politician's way of deciding whether someone loved Taiwan or sided with China had become detrimental to the ethnic harmony of the nation.
Shen urged the DPP to formulate a formal resolution to stop manipulating the ethnic issue between the majority Hoklo Taiwanese and Mainlanders who came to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government in 1949.
He issued four statements to explain why the DPP should abandon the "love Taiwan" campaign theme.
Shen said since most Taiwanese, up to 90 percent of them according to various polls, said they love Taiwan, those who "don't love Taiwan" are not a strong enough force in society to jeopardize the country.
As for the definition of whether a person loves Taiwan, Shen said it is unfair to determine the degree of a party's or an individual's love for Taiwan by their China policies, the degree of their Chinese nostalgia or the time they arrived in Taiwan -- the Hoklo Taiwanese's arrival dates back to two centuries ago while the Mainlanders' arrival was only five decades ago.
"There is no objective and scientific method to gauge the magnitude of a person's love for Taiwan. That someone claims to love Taiwan very much doesn't necessarily mean he or she loves Taiwan more than other compatriots," Shen said.
He concluded that if the DPP agrees with him, it should stop using the "love Taiwan" theme as an election gimmick.
Shen also appealed to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to "do something" to change the situation by mending fences between pan-green and pan-blue supporters.
Shen criticized fellow politicians of all stripes, saying they only hide in their respective fortresses to criticize their rivals and don't have the courage to discuss these issues.
But he said he would rather demand the DPP reflect on these issues than ask the opposition camp to improve the situation.
Saying newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) approved of his statements, Shen added: "The DPP needs to conduct self-criticism on the issue. If it could take the lead to change [the situation], it would reveal the stubbornness of the pan-blue camp."
Shen's DPP colleagues, however, denied the party manipulated the issue or incited tensions between the camps.
DPP Deputy Secretary General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said the party's campaign themes, including the referendum, the rewriting of the constitution and other social and economic reforms, were intended to benefit the country and would continue to be high on its campaign agenda for the year-end elections.
DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-fang (
Yesterday was not the first time Shen has upset party members.
He angered the DPP before the presidential election by speaking out against first lady Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) during the uproar over whether the president had accepted donations from fugitive tycoon Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪).
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS