The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Saturday accused the government of promoting a “cult of personality” after soldiers were last week seen celebrating President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) with song and dance during an inspection in Tainan.
On Friday, Tsai attended a disaster response exercise of the army’s 54th Engineer Group.
After the drills, female soldiers made heart shapes with their hands while posing for photographs with the president.
Photo: Rictchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
As Tsai departed, they shouted: “We love you president,” before waving their hands in the air and singing pop diva A-mei’s (張惠妹) Whenever I Think About You, the lyrics of which include the line: “Happiness is how I feel whenever I think of you.”
KMT spokesman Chen Wei-chieh (陳偉杰) on Saturday wrote on Facebook that the incident was reminiscent of the military’s flattery culture of the past, and that it is inappropriate for heads of state to be the object of pageantries that exceed the bounds of customary military honors.
Tsai should not have used the pretext of touring the troops for self-aggrandizement, he wrote, adding that the public was “flabbergasted” by the display.
“People online are comparing what happened to scenes of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, and this has caused embarrassment to our service members,” Chen wrote.
“The Democratic Progressive Party’s bad taste has harmed the image of soldiers as disciplined professionals, and the military should have taken care to maintain its neutrality from politics,” he added.
In response, an army spokesperson said the soldiers’ passionate display of spontaneity and innovation is within military regulations and should not be distorted.
The military hopes the public will respect the opinions of its personnel and continue their support of the armed forces, they added.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS