When Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation arrived at National Taiwan University’s (NTU) College of Social Sciences, they were met by protesting students holding cardboard signs and books.
The NTU students were eager to have exchanges on freedom, democracy, and human rights with the tour group. They wished to discuss issues on Xinjiang, Hong Kong, gender equality, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, freedom of speech and Taiwan’s sovereignty with them. However, it was a shame that the Chinese students left in a hurry. None of them dared to stop by for an “exchange.”
The Chinese students were welcomed by students and teachers in their previous school stops as if they were superstars. They were praised for their accomplishments. What Taiwan got in return was being mocked by one of the Chinese students. A student from China’s Fudan University on Sunday said the tour group “would like to congratulate the China Taipei team on their win” in the Premier12 baseball championship in Tokyo last month.
Videos of Olympic gold medalist Ma Long (馬龍), surrounded by students at the Taipei Municipal Zhong Shan Girls’ High School, went viral on Chinese social media platforms. Chinese news media and social media platforms described it as Ma entering a “gossamer cave” (盤絲洞), in which she-devils (actually spiders) tried to seduce and eat the Buddhist master Tripitaka (唐三藏) in the Chinese classic Journey to the West (西遊記). It is shameful that the young students were compared to spider-demon seductresses.
What the NTU students did was impressive. Getting straight to the point, they asked the tour group if the Chinese government values freedom, democracy and human rights. This is something that the students cannot hear about in China because the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has indoctrinated them on “the greatness of the motherland.” Chinese students only hear CCP propaganda about the government’s accomplishments, from basic infrastructure to space development, and China’s superiority.
The CCP government would not show the dark side of reality. Chinese students would not know what an election is. How could China call itself a “republic”? Chinese students were taught about how authoritarian and corrupt the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was when it ruled China, that former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) was called “the people’s enemy,” and that Taiwan belongs to China.
However, they were not told how Taiwanese see the CCP’s barbaric actions. Without freedom, democracy and human rights, the achievements of the country and the people would be meaningless.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should have taken the tour group to the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine and the Cihu Mausoleum to let them get a feeling of the national flag and the honor guard of the Republic of China (ROC).
But Ma would probably not dare to do so. When Chinese envoy Chen Yun-lin (陳雲林) visited Taiwan when Ma was president, police were ordered to forcefully remove ROC flags.
I am very proud of the NTU students’ demonstration of moral courage. They are the role models of what NTU students should be like.
Teng Hon-yuan is a university professor.
Translated by Fion Khan
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
RSS