Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook on Monday that he would not attend the Double Ten National Day celebration in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei on Tuesday next week, saying that he disagreed with the official English title for this year: “Taiwan National Day.”
Double Ten National Day would help achieve national unity and social harmony if every political party were to participate in the celebrations.
Moreover, with the People’s Republic of China attempting to sow division and discontent in Taiwan as part of its objective of annexing the nation, it is more vital than ever for the parties to work together.
Ma has declined to attend the celebration for personal and ideological reasons, but his absence will be harmful from a national perspective.
The situation is reminiscent of the Judgement of Solomon story from the Bible, in which a mother agrees to be parted with her child to avoid having the infant cut in half and divided between her and another woman who claimed the child as her own.
If Ma truly cared about the Republic of China, he would seize every opportunity to promote national unity in the face of a common enemy, rather than risk further division.
Compare Ma’s actions with those of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), whose attendance at the opening ceremony of the Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) Presidential Library in January last year was criticized by members of her own Democratic Progressive Party.
However, Tsai prioritized supporting Taiwan’s existence and offered an olive branch to those on the other side of the political divide.
Huang Wei-ping is a former think tank researcher.
Translated by Hsieh Yi-ching
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