Keelung Councilor Jiho Chang (張之豪), a member of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), yesterday shared an online post criticizing Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) for the titles of his two books, following the party’s recent withdrawal of its slogan due to the resemblance to white supremacist discourse.
Ko has published two books, expounding his ideas to forge a new third political force in Taiwan, calling it “colorless,” or as a “white-color party,” and named them The White Power and The White Power II in English.
Chang yesterday posted a message on social media saying Ko had written a book in 2014 that is on sale at online foreign platforms with the title The White Power, then followed up with a second book later that year, titled The White Power II.
Photo: CNA
The titles can be interpreted as an endorsement of white supremacy, Chang said.
The TPP had to withdraw its slogan “Vote White, Vote Right,” due to the backlash from domestic media and Taiwan-based foreign journalists.
Chang who previously lived in Canada and graduated from the University of British Columbia, wrote: “I am sure that Ko Wen-je is not a white supremacist. But it is clear Ko is totally devoid of international perspective.”
Ko ran as an independent candidate to win the local elections in 2014 and started serving the first of his two terms as Taipei City mayor that year. His books were published during the campaign to present Ko, his background and political philosophy to voters and they were named “power, or strength of the white-color (force) (白色的力量) in Chinese.
The two books are still available online on international platforms such as Amazon, eBay and Wob with the title The White Power, Chang said.
The TPP last week had to remove its slogan “Vote White, Vote Right” from its Web site following criticism about its resemblance to the language used by white supremacists.
Taiwan-based American journalist Erin Hale said the TPP slogan is the same as the National States’ Rights Party, a now-defunct US white supremacist political group active from the 1960s to the 1970s.
TPP spokeswoman Lin Tzu-yu (林子宇) said the slogan referred to the color white that the TPP brands itself with.
“It was supposed to mean that a vote for the ‘power of white’ is the right choice,” Lin said as she denied any links to white supremacy.
The TPP pulled back the slogan, due to drawing “different opinions” online and from “friends from the West,” Lin said, while other party officials pointed at the administrators running the Web site as the source of the problem.
The TPP cannot blame the book titles on the administrators, since the books, which were written and named by Ko, came out in 2014, Chang wrote.
Meanwhile, a social media user wrote: “Thanks to Ko’s party, Taiwan is a laughingstock abroad, for promoting racism and white superiority.”
Some online users said the TPP needs to improve its handling of foreign affairs.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS