A politician and academics yesterday criticized KMT leaders for comparing Afghanistan to Taiwan, asking whether the KMT had forgotten that it fled China and committed atrocities in Taiwan during the White Terror era.
“It was nauseating for me to hear the KMT using what is happening in Afghanistan to mock Taiwanese,” independent Taipei City Councilor Lin Ying-Meng (林穎孟) wrote on Facebook yesterday. “Actually, if it had not fled to Taiwan, the KMT would have been totally wiped out by Chinese communist troops.”
“KMT leaders really have no shame,” she said. “They exploit the tragic events in which Afghan people have suffered death and devastation, with a self-indulgent attitude ... to taunt Taiwanese. Most of the public are disgusted by their remarks, but the KMT’s people believe they are the conquering heroes.”
When the KMT fled to Taiwan, it prolonged the Chinese Civil War, she said, adding: “It is the KMT who brought the war they were engaged in to Taiwan.”
It is a perversion of history to claim that the KMT was safeguarding Taiwan, Lin said.
“When they arrived in Taiwan, they committed atrocities and massacred Taiwanese. Then the KMT imposed a fascist dictatorship on Taiwan,” she said.
Tsai Tung-chieh (蔡東杰), a professor of international relations at National Chung Hsing University said that comparing Taiwan to Afghanistan, “is too simplistic, and lacks logic. It might be valid, if the US was withdrawing all American troops from around the world, or Taiwan-US relations were going downhill.”
“Yet right now, the US still has many troops and bases ... around the world, and Washington is likely to reinforce its military presence in Asia-Pacific region, in the post-Afghanistan war era. Therefore Taiwan would benefit ... as the US pivots to the Asia-Pacific to preserve regional security,” Tsai said.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
RSS