Banning breeds resistance
In 1979, when I was a student at a teacher training university, the democratic movement was thriving. We were motivated to fight for a better Taiwan under the dangwai (黨外) or “outside the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)” banner. Many dangwai magazines were published and they became a channel for developing Taiwan’s democratization.
At that time, the school’s disciplinary office tried banning dangwai magazines and books, yet one military instructor surnamed Tsao (曹) went against the grain.
“Our college is an educational institution to train teachers. We should of course comply with the law. That is the most important thing. Given that the publication of these books and magazines was authorized by the Government Information Office, we do not have the right to ban them. If they criticize the government for no reason or with malicious intent, teachers and instructors should take the opportunity to teach students the truth. Students should not be prohibited from reading what they want to read,” Tsao said.
For the martial law era, what he said was extraordinarily democratic and open-minded. His words laid the foundation for my understanding of democracy and urged me to reflect on the authoritarian regime. I still think about him, grateful for his teaching.
The late democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) gave his life for Taiwan by pursuing unconditional freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is a foundational principle of the DPP, based on the idea that one’s thoughts, whatever they are, should never be criminalized. This is also a universally embraced value.
The DPP did not achieve a majority victory in the legislative elections this year and there are many reasons. Video-sharing platforms might have played a role, but it is only one factor. If those platforms are unlawful, prosecutors, investigators and police should intervene and conduct investigations. It is improper to ban platforms outright, yet some DPP politicians have said that TikTok should be banned.
It would create more problems if too many public restrictions are imposed. Prohibiting a piece of information only makes it more widespread, and violating freedom of speech would make Taiwan no better than a communist country.
Hopefully, all DPP members would consider the public first. Policymakers should reflect on past mistakes and seek meaningful collaboration with opposition parties. Only then can the public truly benefit.
Tu Juo-fei
Taipei
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry gives it a strategic advantage, but that advantage would be threatened as the US seeks to end Taiwan’s monopoly in the industry and as China grows more assertive, analysts said at a security dialogue last week. While the semiconductor industry is Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” its dominance has been seen by some in the US as “a monopoly,” South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University academic Kwon Seok-joon said at an event held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In addition, Taiwan lacks sufficient energy sources and is vulnerable to natural disasters and geopolitical threats from China, he said.
After reading the article by Hideki Nagayama [English version on same page] published in the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Wednesday, I decided to write this article in hopes of ever so slightly easing my depression. In August, I visited the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan, to attend a seminar. While there, I had the chance to look at the museum’s collections. I felt extreme annoyance at seeing that the museum had classified Taiwanese indigenous peoples as part of China’s ethnic minorities. I kept thinking about how I could make this known, but after returning
What value does the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hold in Taiwan? One might say that it is to defend — or at the very least, maintain — truly “blue” qualities. To be truly “blue” — without impurities, rejecting any “red” influence — is to uphold the ideology consistent with that on which the Republic of China (ROC) was established. The KMT would likely not object to this notion. However, if the current generation of KMT political elites do not understand what it means to be “blue” — or even light blue — their knowledge and bravery are far too lacking
Taipei’s population is estimated to drop below 2.5 million by the end of this month — the only city among the nation’s six special municipalities that has more people moving out than moving in this year. A city that is classified as a special municipality can have three deputy mayors if it has a population of more than 2.5 million people, Article 55 of the Local Government Act (地方制度法) states. To counter the capital’s shrinking population, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) held a cross-departmental population policy committee meeting on Wednesday last week to discuss possible solutions. According to Taipei City Government data, Taipei’s