Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

At the opening ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival on Oct. 23, the head of the Chinese delegation, Jiang Ping (江平), adopted the swagger of a “communist bandit,” demanding that the Taiwanese delegation should have its title changed to “Chinese Taipei” or “Taiwan, China” and be merged with the Chinese delegation.

This was certainly not, as members of the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) have claimed, an isolated incident. Rather, it is the grave consequence of accepting the so-called “one China” principle. All China is doing is cashing the check that Ma’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) wrote.

Is the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) giving up on wooing young voters? The party would adamantly deny it, but it definitely looks that way in light of the KMT government’s latest move: Attempting to rein in college students’ freedom to participate openly in the discussion boards at the online Professional Technology Temple, or PTT as it is better known among local Internet users.

The site, managed by National Taiwan University, is the nation’s largest academic bulletin board system. Popular among college students, PTT hosts thousands of discussion boards, serving as a forum for young people to share their thoughts and take note of others’ opinions.