The 65th anniversary of the 823 Artillery Bombardment of Kinmen County took place on Wednesday, commemorating the Aug. 23, 1958, date, which marked the beginning of the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. While the battle signifies protection of Taiwan’s security, it would be more accurate to say that it was a continuation of the civil war between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). If the KMT government had not brought the Republic of China (ROC) to Taiwan following the end of World War II, it is possible that, after some time under US occupation, Taiwan would have become an independent country.
When the ROC and its government were established, the territory of Taiwan was ruled by Japan, not the ROC. This fact proves that the CCP’s claim that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory” is a fabricated justification for invading Taiwan.
It was because of Taiwan’s existence that the US government responded to the 823 Artillery Bombardment by dispatching the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet to help the ROC government defend the islands of Kinmen and Matsu. This prolonged the legal status of the ROC, as unlike Taiwan, Kinmen and Matsu were within the ROC’s territory at the time of its foundation.
The ROC is a special country. In legal terms, Taiwan, which came under US military occupation following Japan’s defeat in World War II, was entrusted to be managed by the ROC government.
However, Taiwan has developed the features and status of a nation state, having all the requisite elements of population, land, government and sovereignty. The only problem is that the continued application of the ROC Constitution does not closely suit the real situation. As this is the case, there is no need for independence, but what is needed is an overhaul of its national institutions.
In commemorating the 823 Artillery Bombardment, there is no need to state once again that it was the reason behind Taiwan’s security, and it is redundant to repeat discussions about what differences might exist between the ROC’s effective governance of Taiwan in comparison to Kinmen and Matsu. This is because Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu have become a community of common destiny.
Since they are all governed by the free and democratic ROC, they should unite as one to resist any aggression against our nation by the despotic CCP regime.
Chen Chi-nung is a political commentator.
Translated by Julian Clegg
On May 7, 1971, Henry Kissinger planned his first, ultra-secret mission to China and pondered whether it would be better to meet his Chinese interlocutors “in Pakistan where the Pakistanis would tape the meeting — or in China where the Chinese would do the taping.” After a flicker of thought, he decided to have the Chinese do all the tape recording, translating and transcribing. Fortuitously, historians have several thousand pages of verbatim texts of Dr. Kissinger’s negotiations with his Chinese counterparts. Paradoxically, behind the scenes, Chinese stenographers prepared verbatim English language typescripts faster than they could translate and type them
More than 30 years ago when I immigrated to the US, applied for citizenship and took the 100-question civics test, the one part of the naturalization process that left the deepest impression on me was one question on the N-400 form, which asked: “Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any communist or totalitarian party anywhere in the world?” Answering “yes” could lead to the rejection of your application. Some people might try their luck and lie, but if exposed, the consequences could be much worse — a person could be fined,
Xiaomi Corp founder Lei Jun (雷軍) on May 22 made a high-profile announcement, giving online viewers a sneak peek at the company’s first 3-nanometer mobile processor — the Xring O1 chip — and saying it is a breakthrough in China’s chip design history. Although Xiaomi might be capable of designing chips, it lacks the ability to manufacture them. No matter how beautifully planned the blueprints are, if they cannot be mass-produced, they are nothing more than drawings on paper. The truth is that China’s chipmaking efforts are still heavily reliant on the free world — particularly on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Last week, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) unveiled the location of Nvidia’s new Taipei headquarters and announced plans to build the world’s first large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer in Taiwan. In Taipei, Huang’s announcement was welcomed as a milestone for Taiwan’s tech industry. However, beneath the excitement lies a significant question: Can Taiwan’s electricity infrastructure, especially its renewable energy supply, keep up with growing demand from AI chipmaking? Despite its leadership in digital hardware, Taiwan lags behind in renewable energy adoption. Moreover, the electricity grid is already experiencing supply shortages. As Taiwan’s role in AI manufacturing expands, it is critical that
RSS