Pro-China and pro-independence opposition parties share thoughts on National Day

Pro-China and pro-independence opposition parties share thoughts on National Day

2022-10-10

Though organizers intend the National Day celebrations to foster unity in Taiwan, criticism from opposition parties abounds. On the pro-China side of the political spectrum, officials from parties such as the KMT have protested that this year’s official National Day logo makes no mention of the R.O.C., or Republic of China, which is Taiwan’s official name. KMT Party Chair Eric Chu says its absence is proof that the Tsai administration is taking Taiwan on the road to independence. Meanwhile, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, which advocates for Taiwan’s separation from the R.O.C., says Oct. 10 is not actually a day for Taiwan to celebrate. The party says Taiwan’s true national day will be whenever Taiwan becomes independent from the R.O.C.

Holding up national flags, KMT Chair Eric Chu leads party members in wishing the R.O.C. a happy birthday. The KMT on Monday held a National Day flag-raising ceremony of its own at its party headquarters. The event was attended by former President Ma Ying-jeou, former Taipei mayors Wu Po-hsiung 吳伯雄 and Hau Lung-pin, and Taipei mayoral candidate Chiang Wan-an among many others. Together, they protested that the official logo for this year’s celebrations did not include the words “R.O.C.”

Eric Chu
KMT chair
The R.O.C. exists. We all exist here together. Defending the R.O.C. is our shared responsibility. We say no to the DPP’s daily attempts to make the R.O.C. invisible, and to eventually destroy it.

Ma Ying-jeou
Former president
The Tsai administration promoted this as the “Taiwan National Day.” The words “R.O.C.” are gone. The only way to change this precarious status quo, is by changing the government, and changing its policies.

Ma once protested the branding of this year’s National Day logo, saying that leaving out the words “R.O.C.” from the design was a DDP “Taiwan independence” tactic. After the flag-raising ceremony at the KMT headquarters, he and Chu headed to the official event at the Presidential Office. Ma chose to forgo the face masks with the official National Day logo, wearing ones with a pattern of national flags instead.

Tsai Ing-wen
President
The work of making the Republic of China, Taiwan, a more resilient country

Ma joined the rest of the officials in applauding after Tsai referred to Taiwan by its official name. At the event grounds, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said that the R.O.C. was still the biggest common denominator in Taiwan. Meanwhile, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party on Monday held a press conference saying that the current National Day celebrations are not actually celebrating Taiwan.

Wang Hsing-huan
Taiwan Statebuilding Party
Oct. 10 is not the National Day for the people of Taiwan. What year was it that Taiwan was founded on Oct. 10? The R.O.C. is celebrating its 111th anniversary. That marks the founding of China in 1911. In the future, Taiwan’s national day will be a day to celebrate its independence.

The Taiwan Statebuilding Party says that the R.O.C.’s anniversary is not a celebration for Taiwan. Party members say that Taiwan will only truly have a national day of its own after it becomes a separate entity from the R.O.C.

國民黨國慶升旗「馬、朱、蔣出席」馬英九再批：中華民國不見了

2022-10-10

國慶日，前總統馬英九繼續質疑蔡政府，把中華民國變不見了，朱立倫也喊著要保衛中華民國，但這話，台灣基進黨聽不下去，砲轟台灣要走向正常化國家，應該去中華民國化。

高舉國旗，黨主席朱立倫帶頭喊"中華民國"生日快樂，國民黨在黨中央自辦升旗典禮，前總統馬英九、前台北市長吳伯雄、郝龍斌，還有台北市長參選人蔣萬安通通到齊，異口同聲砲轟，今年國慶意象，完全沒有"中華民國"。

[[國民黨主席朱立倫]]
“今天中華民國存在，就是我們大家共同存在。捍衛中華民國是我們共同任務，民進黨不要每一天想要讓中華民國隱形化，甚至想要消滅中華民國”

[[前總統馬英九]]
“(蔡政府)推動台灣國慶日，中華民國不見了，所以要改變這種不安全現狀，只有改變政府與改變政策才能做到”

馬英九再批蔡總統，不要用"台灣"國慶日偷渡台獨概念，黨中央升旗結束後，他和朱立倫接著又參加總統府國慶大典，戴著國旗口罩，特別顯眼。

[[總統蔡英文]]
“把中華民國台灣打造成為一個更強韌的國家”

聽到中華民國，馬英九總算拍手，台北市長柯文哲，也說中華民國現階段還是最大公約數，但這話，台灣基進黨可聽不下去。

[[台灣基進秘書長王興煥]]
“10月10日不是台灣人的國慶。我們不知道台灣在哪年的10月10日建國，中華民國111年的紀元就標誌著中華民國台灣，仍然是那個成立於1911年的中國，台灣的國慶是在未來的獨立紀念日”

基進堅持，台灣就是台灣，走向正常化國家後，才會有真正的國慶。

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Tsai Ing-wen’s National Day address: Taiwan will not leave anything up to fate

President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday delivered her seventh National Day address as the leader of Taiwan. The speech contained plenty of references to cross-strait relations. Tsai stressed that Taiwan remained committed to being able to defend itself, adding that the country would not leave anything up to fate. She urged Beijing to not misjudge Taiwan’s commitment to freedom and democracy, saying that maintaining peace was a shared responsibility of both sides of the strait.

Ceremonial music plays as President Tsai Ing-wen appears at the National Day celebrations. This year is her penultimate time attending the event as president.

Tsai Ing-wen
President
Today is the 111th National Day of the Republic of China, and the 73rd National Day since the Republic of China government relocated to Taiwan.

At last year’s address, Tsai listed out “four commitments” on cross-strait relations. This time around, she enumerated four key areas to enhance Taiwan’s resilience.

Tsai Ing-wen
President
The international community fully understands that upholding Taiwan’s security means upholding regional stability and democratic values. The destruction of Taiwan’s democracy and freedom would be a grave defeat for the world’s democracies. Through our actions, we are sending a message to the international community that Taiwan will take responsibility for our own self-defense, that we will not leave anything to fate.

Tsai said that Taiwan was determined to defend itself. She also directed some words at Beijing regarding its constant military threats and its pressure on Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to cut ties with Taiwan.

Tsai Ing-wen
President
The broadest consensus among the Taiwanese people and our various political parties is that we must defend our national sovereignty and our free and democratic way of life. On this point, we have no room for compromise. The Beijing authorities should not make any misjudgment on account of Taiwan’s vigorous democratic system. They must not mistake that there is room for compromise in the Taiwanese people’s commitment to democracy and freedom, and thus attempt to divide Taiwanese society by exploiting the fierce competition between our political parties. I want to make clear to the Beijing authorities that armed confrontation is absolutely not an option for our two sides.

Tsai called on China to respect Taiwan’s insistence on sovereignty and democracy. She also voiced hope that the two sides of the strait could coexist in peace.

Tsai Ing-wen
President
We look forward to the gradual resumption of healthy and orderly cross-strait people-to-people exchanges after the loosening of border restrictions on both sides, thereby easing tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Provided there is rationality, equality, and mutual respect, we are willing to work with the Beijing authorities to find a mutually agreeable arrangement for upholding peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. This is our shared responsibility.

Tsai ended her address evoking the spirit of Hong Rui-lin, a Taiwanese artist known for his paintings of miners.

Tsai Ing-wen
President
This is the years-long road we have traveled, from a darker time to a brighter future. Today, saying "I am Taiwanese" is a statement of honor and an expression of pride.

As with previous years, the president’s address on National Day contained plenty of words for the other side of the strait.

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Choirs across Taiwan sing national anthem together via live video link

National Day celebrations this year had a special twist: choirs in three places across Taiwan sang the national anthem in unison through a video feed. One of those choirs was in Dongyin, Taiwan’s northernmost island. Back in Taipei, the military’s drill team also wowed crowds by performing an arms dance with their left hands for the first time. It was a day of celebration, and surprises.

Seven military personnel and coast guards stand in formation in front of a children’s choir from Matsu. Together they sing the national anthem in Taipei. This year they were joined by choirs all over the country, via a live video feed.

One ensemble sang at the northernmost point in Taiwan, on Matsu’s Dongyin Island. Another was in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District, where naval officers sing in formation in front of a Ta Chiang-class corvette. It was the first time that choirs in different locations around Taiwan sang together through video feed, symbolizing this year’s National Day theme of unity in national defense.

Back in Taipei, the camera tilts up to show a Chinook transport helicopter flying above the Presidential Office with a massive R.O.C. flag half the size of a basketball court. This year’s National Day celebrations featured a vast array of performances to instill national pride.

Onstage are the musicians of “Pakelang,” an album that won a Grammy design award earlier this year. They dance alongside Indigenous performers beneath the stage holding blue ribbons symbolizing the waters of the East Coast. The Fulin Tigers youth baseball team also joins in, cheering and making swinging gestures in unison.

The military’s rifle drill team also performed, this year performing with their left hands for the first time, wowing the crowds. Overhead, Air Force fighter jets flew in formation, as if taking the baton from the drill team, which was followed by a lively choral performance of a Hakka classic with 111 singers, one for each year since the founding of the R.O.C.

In the final act, five AT-3 jet trainers soar across the sky at 1,200 feet above the Presidential Office, dragging plumes of red, white and blue smoke as they zoom by at 240 knots. The performance was met with cheers of excitement from the crowd, marking a perfect ending for the day’s celebrations.

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Literature on the Dinner Table: new menu for National Museum of Taiwan Literature

A new project at the National Museum of Taiwan Literature aims to put “Literature on the Dinner Table.” A new menu at the Tainan Museum cafe gives visitors a taste of Taiwanese literature — a little more literally than usual. Many dishes are based on famous writings or reference authors’ culinary lives.

Golden yellow eggs are poured into a hot pan and sauteed into a delicious omelet.

Nearby, a chef spreads mashed potato on bread, following up with a squeeze of sauce and some salad leaves. Then it’s burger patties made of tofu and plant-based mock meat. This is how American-style lunch is served at the National Museum of Taiwan Literature.

Lin A-pao
NCKU Dept. of Taiwanese Literature
The idea comes from two essays by Liang Shih-chiu, “Tofu” and “McDonald’s.” The inspiration was that he said writing them was a bit like making hamburgers. So we made them into tofu burgers, following a plant-based diet.

The tofu burgers are inspired by “A Cottager’s Sketchbook,” a collection of essays titled after a place where Liang Shih-chiu once lived. After the burger, visitors can enjoy this “Red Treasure box” dessert – it’s based on carrot, with a lemon cream cheese icing, and it’s inspired by an essay called “Carrot Cake.”

Tsai Chu-erh
Author
I wrote about a conversation that I had with my late mother while I was making carrot cake. I first ate carrot cake at my friend’s home in London, i.e. in the West. I was studying there. It was something I had never eaten in Taiwan. I was really surprised by it.

Su Shuo-pin
National Museum of Taiwan Literature director
We launched this event to bring literature and food together, so that while we’re eating, we can understand how many people have imbued food with very profound meanings that will enrich our lives. The National Museum of Taiwan Literature wants to bring literature into our daily life.

The museum hopes its lunches will transmit Taiwan’s heritage in all its sweet, sour, spicy and aromatic glory. This literature project talks in mouthfuls, not soundbites.

2022-10-10