A proposal to eliminate a requirement that public officials and military personnel take their oaths of office in front of a portrait of Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) was aimed at “doing away with authoritarianism,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) said yesterday.
Article 6 of the National Emblem and National Flag of the Republic of China Act (中華民國國徽國旗法) stipulates that government agencies, schools and the military should display the national flag above an image of Sun at the front and center of any room where people congregate.
Fan and DPP Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) have proposed amending the act to eliminate the requirement that elected officials and others face a portrait of Sun while being sworn in.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Charles Chen (陳以信) yesterday blasted the proposal on Facebook.
“The DPP thinks that just doing away with Chinese history is not enough, now they want to eliminate all of the Republic of China’s [ROC] founding fathers,” he wrote.
The DPP wants to remove portraits of Sun under the auspices of “transitional justice,” but tomorrow it could use the same excuse to remove the national flag, he said.
“Once the national flag is moved away from our founder, it will lose its revolutionary significance, and the nation will lose the significance of its founding. If the DPP later decides to replace the national flag, the people will already be numb to the idea,” he said.
Next, the nation’s name will be in danger, Chen added.
Fan said Chen is too paranoid.
It is democratic to propose that people should no longer have to swear an oath to the portrait of a national founder, Fan said, noting that many nations do not have such a requirement, including the US, France, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and South Korea.
European prime ministers take their oaths facing their legislatures, while the US president faces the chief justice of the US Supreme Court, who is administering the oath of office, she said, adding that only in Taiwan must officials face an authoritarian figure.
Taiwan must move further toward democracy and away from authoritarianism, and should do so by eliminating the idolization of an authoritarian figure, and removing such portraits is part of the process of democratization, she added.
Chuang said that requiring the installment of a political leader’s portrait is unnecessary in a democracy, and there is no need to “worship a totem.”
The amendment is aimed at liberating people from the authoritarian-era mindset, normalizing the nation, advancing democracy and allowing the public to avoid having to worship long-gone idols, he said.
Chen’s comments “take things way too far,” Chuang said.
“Taiwan is now a democracy. The KMT should drop its authoritarian mindset and feudalist thinking — using the law to mandate the hanging portraits of a founding father and swearing an oath to them is too backward,” he added.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT: Taipei authorities warned against drunk cycling after a sharp rise in riding under the influence, urging greater public awareness of its illegality Taipei authorities have issued a public warning urging people not to ride bicycles after consuming alcohol, following a sharp rise in riding under the influence (DUI) cases involving bicycles. Five hundred and seven people were charged with DUI last year while riding YouBikes, personal bicycles, or other self-propelled two-wheelers — a fourfold increase from the previous year, data released by the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division showed. Of these, 33 cases were considered severe enough to be prosecuted under “offenses against public safety,” the data showed. Under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), bicycles — including YouBikes and other
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
RSS