As China conducted military exercises encircling Taiwan after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, China Central Television News posted an image online with the text: “There is only one China in the world.”
To show their support for China’s ideology, some Taiwanese artists have voluntarily reposted or were “compelled” to repost the image under public pressure, drawing fire from Internet users.
It should not have been a surprise when long-term pro-China artists, such as Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), reposted the image right away, but what was unexpected was that many other Taiwanese artists followed suit.
The artists have no right to feign innocence by saying that their social media accounts are handled by management companies, because they need consent to post on their behalf.
“Little pinks” — Chinese nationalists who forcefully push their ideologies on the Internet — have played a crucial role in this situation, acting like “Red Guards” by watching like hawks the accounts of celebrities to see who had not shared the image and launching mass posting attacks on those who had not.
While most celebrities would buckle under pressure, some of the most popular remained unperturbed, including Jolin Tsai (蔡依林).
Although the malicious behavior of the little pinks was expected, it reminded people of the “fumi-e” policy — a ritual dating to the 1600s during Japan’s Tokugawa period in which suspected Christians were ordered to trample on images depicting Jesus or the Virgin Mary and persecuted if they would not.
It is hard to believe that after a few centuries, little pinks are using a similar approach.
I agree with the statement “there is only one China in the world,” as long as it does not come with hidden clauses, such as “Taiwan is part of China.”
Even though the image did not say the second part, the intention of unification of Taiwan and China is as clear as day — a stance that is widely rejected by Taiwanese.
China’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy, relentless military drills, and the provocations and preposterous behavior of little pinks have reduced the possibility of Taiwan sitting down for peace talks with China.
If anything, their chances of achieving unification have only gotten bleaker over the years.
Hung Yu-jui is a Japanese-language teacher and translator.
Translated by Rita Wang
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
Last week, 24 Republican representatives in the US Congress proposed a resolution calling for US President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon the US’ “one China” policy, calling it outdated, counterproductive and not reflective of reality, and to restore official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, enter bilateral free-trade agreement negotiations and support its entry into international organizations. That is an exciting and inspiring development. To help the US government and other nations further understand that Taiwan is not a part of China, that those “one China” policies are contrary to the fact that the two countries across the Taiwan Strait are independent and
RSS