Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Notion of the motherland is dead

Lee Min-yung 李敏勇

The idea of the motherland was destroyed by the 228 Incident. There was much anticipation, but the motherland disappeared in a maze of confusion as the 228 Incident destroyed the Taiwanese soul. It was not until the Kaohsiung Incident occurred in 1979 that people stood up again, but what they faced was not a straight road to reconstruction.

Perhaps some will say that what was destroyed was the idea of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) motherland.

Be cautious, but not afraid

John Hsieh

Taiwan is similar to Ukraine in the split of state recognition, but quite different in international political status. Russia invaded Crimea with the excuse of protecting their citizens living abroad. They are welcomed by Crimeans who favor Russia. This is almost identical to people in Taiwan who favor unification with China.

However, Taiwan and Ukraine are not the same. First, Ukraine is a member country of the UN and Taiwan is not. Second, if there were riots or societal turbulence in Taiwan, China could not easily troop in right away, regardless of its 2005 antisecession law, which does not have any legal basis under international law. It would directly challenge the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, authorized by the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

Protect the rights of Tibetans in Taiwan

Huang Song-lih and Shih Yi-hsiang 黃嵩立，施逸翔

On March 10 every year, Tibetans around the world and their supporters come together to commemorate Tibetan Uprising Day. This year marks the 55th anniversary of the uprising.

For Tibetans, neither Dharamsala, India, or free and democratic Taiwan is their homeland. Tibet is their home. In 1959, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) invaded Tibet, forcing the 14th Dalai Lama to flee, which triggered an exodus of Tibetans across the Himalayas into India, away from ruthless persecutions and killings. This was done to save Tibetan culture and Tibetan lives, in the hope that they would some day be able to return to their peaceful homeland.

Say goodbye to Taiwan, say goodbye to peace

Nat Bellocchi 白樂崎

An article by University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer titled “Say Goodbye to Taiwan” in the March-April issue of the National Interest is thought-provoking. In his essay, first published online on Feb. 25, Mearsheimer predicts that in the face of China’s continued rise, Taiwan will have to give up even its present de facto independent status and seek a Hong Kong-style accommodation with Beijing.

Mearsheimer, who is a political scientist from the “offensive realism” school of international relations, did do his homework for the essay and studied local political attitudes carefully. For instance, he presents recent statistics showing that — assuming that China will not attack Taiwan — the overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 80.2 percent, would opt for independence.

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