The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has not been looking good lately. From the outlandish remarks coming from its presidential candidate, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), and his wife, Lee Chia-fen (李佳芬), to its bizarre official response to last week’s police-shoving incident, it seems as if the party’s members are saying every wrong thing possible.
The latest offender is former Miaoli County commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻), who at a campaign event for KMT Legislator Hsu Chih-jung (徐志榮) on Sunday made disparaging remarks against the LGBT community and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Liu said he is “very worried” that one day he would have to ask his son: “Are you marrying a man or a woman?”
“President Tsai Ing-wen, it is fine if you do not want to get married. Do not jeopardize so many people,” he added.
That is offensive on so many levels, but Liu’s stance is not surprising, as he has always had a questionable reputation and need not be taken seriously. However, he was attending a campaign event that represented the KMT as a whole.
The party’s response showed that it condones Liu’s views and personal attack on Tsai. KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Cheng Mei-hua (程美華) said that the party respects everyone’s opinions on the matter, even though it is a human rights matter.
The party needs the votes, and after all it was their opponent who legalized same-sex marriage in May. Plus, the majority of people did vote against LGBT rights during last year’s national referendums.
Using discrimination and hatred in campaign platforms seems to be an alarming worldwide trend, and Taiwan is no exception. This has long been evident: When same-sex marriage was legalized in May, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) and others protested the law, saying: “If you vote for the KMT in 2020, we will change the laws back.” In an event to honor exemplary fathers in October, former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said: “If you vote for the wrong person, there might no longer be events to honor exemplary fathers, because we would not know if the father is male or female.” Miaoli County Commissioner Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌) also caused a stir, saying in October that same-sex marriage would lead to humankind’s extinction.
Meanwhile, despite his gaffes, Han had refrained from commenting on the issue since he launched his campaign. When he finally did two weeks ago, his answer made absolutely no sense: “I hope that all the lovers in the world can be together, but we still need to support family values.” However, he is known to have supported the anti-LGBT referendums during his campaign for Kaoshiung mayor last year, and his wife has made erroneous comments that elementary-school children were being taught about anal sex and orgasms.
Interestingly, Lee also said last month that same-sex marriage has been “overly exploited” and that Han would “review everything” if he is elected. Whatever Lee means, she is right in a sense — politicians from her husband’s party have been exploiting the LGBT community’s dignity and basic human rights to attack the current administration, sway people’s emotions and garner support.
The presidential election on Jan. 11 is very important to the nation’s future, and there are many other issues that should be considered when choosing a candidate instead of trying to undo what has already been done — if even legally possible — which would just waste more public resources and put Taiwan to shame internationally after it was lauded for the achievement.
To The Honorable Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜): We would like to extend our sincerest regards to you for representing Taiwan at the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on Monday. The Taiwanese-American community was delighted to see that Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan speaker not only received an invitation to attend the event, but successfully made the trip to the US. We sincerely hope that you took this rare opportunity to share Taiwan’s achievements in freedom, democracy and economic development with delegations from other countries. In recent years, Taiwan’s economic growth and world-leading technology industry have been a source of pride for Taiwanese-Americans.
Next week, the nation is to celebrate the Lunar New Year break. Unfortunately, cold winds are a-blowing, literally and figuratively. The Central Weather Administration has warned of an approaching cold air mass, while obstinate winds of chaos eddy around the Legislative Yuan. English theologian Thomas Fuller optimistically pointed out in 1650 that “it’s always darkest before the dawn.” We could paraphrase by saying the coldest days are just before the renewed hope of spring. However, one must temper any optimism about the damage being done in the legislature by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), under
To our readers: Due to the Lunar New Year holiday, from Sunday, Jan. 26, through Sunday, Feb. 2, the Taipei Times will have a reduced format without our regular editorials and opinion pieces. From Tuesday to Saturday the paper will not be delivered to subscribers, but will be available for purchase at convenience stores. Subscribers will receive the editions they missed once normal distribution resumes on Sunday, Feb. 2. The paper returns to its usual format on Monday, Feb. 3, when our regular editorials and opinion pieces will also be resumed.
This year would mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the India Taipei Association (ITA) in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi. From the vision of “Look East” in the 1990s, India’s policy has evolved into a resolute “Act East,” which complements Taiwan’s “New Southbound Policy.” In these three decades, India and Taiwan have forged a rare partnership — one rooted in shared democratic values, a commitment to openness and pluralism, and clear complementarities in trade and technology. The government of India has rolled out the red carpet for Taiwanese investors with attractive financial incentives
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