The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan was founded 113 years ago. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) in China on Oct. 1 marked its 75th anniversary. Based on age and chronology, the PRC cannot be considered the ROC’s “motherland.”
These were the facts President William Lai (賴清德) cited during his address at a Double Ten National Day gala in the Taipei Dome on Saturday to refute the fake motherland “mythconception.”
Lai was direct and to the point. The founding years of the countries differs significantly, they celebrate different national days and neither are subordinate to each other. The fake motherland concept, long disseminated by the pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and pan-blue media, disappeared under the harsh sunlight cast by Lai’s logic.
The pan-blue Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on the one hand holds up China as the “motherland,” while at the same time claims that it wants to safeguard the ROC on Taiwan. The CCP leverages the KMT’s artifice by saying that China is the “motherland” and that the PRC is the only legitimate representative of China in the world.
The pan-blue camp’s insistence that China is the “motherland” is tantamount to recognizing the PRC as the “motherland,” essentially “acknowledging the bandit as one’s ancestor,” to borrow a Chinese euphemism (認賊作祖) for betraying one’s country to the enemy.
With the fake motherland betrayal so effortlessly exposed by the facts, representatives of the red and blue media immediately had a hissy fit, with people such as Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), former KMT legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) and KMT think tank deputy director Ling Tao (凌濤) hitting the floor running with criticisms of Lai’s speech. Meanwhile, the pro-blue and red media, and the pro-CCP Internet army spewed out an endless stream of ad hominem attacks at Lai.
The more urgent, vitriolic and angry the attacks, the more they proved Lai to be right. They demonstrated his ability to cut through the lies and strike right at the heart of the disingenuous nature of the mudslingers’ protestations.
If they want to throw their lot in with the CCP’s “united front” fake motherland fabrication and in so doing sell out their own country, then so be it. That is their choice. However, even more shameless is that they are using this distortion to hoodwink Taiwanese, to extinguish their resolve to resist annexation by the CCP.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has recently allowed himself to be transformed into the CCP’s “united front” poster boy, casting suspicion on Lai and calling on Taiwanese to place their trust in Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while doubting their own elected head of state.
That the PRC and the ROC are not subordinate to each other is not only borne out because of their founding dates, but is also based upon sovereignty, history and the right to govern.
Through its lies and poisonous rhetoric, the CCP has pulled out all the stops to kill off the ROC, which was not only founded long before the PRC, but still exists on Taiwan. People like Ma are CCP accomplices in this attempt.
Lai made the remarks about the PRC being a fake motherland because he hoped to bring together Taiwanese from both sides of the political divide in a call for unity in the name of patriotism. It is unfortunate that people such as Ma refuse to listen to the call.
Hu Wen-huei is a veteran journalist.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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