Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Alongside a revival of local culture, “Old Taiwan” and the “Taiwanese way” — or literally translated, “Taiwanese taste” — have become fashionable again.

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) appropriation of the name “Taiwan People’s Party” is a notorious example of this trend. Ko claims to be a successor of Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水), a Taiwanese democracy pioneer in the Japanese colonial era, simply because both were doctors. What Ko apparently does not know is that Chiang was only one of several doctors in the original Taiwan People’s Party, founded in 1927. Other members of that party, including Chiu Te-chin (邱德金), Peng Ching-kao (彭清靠) and Wang Kan-tang (王甘棠), were also doctors, but Ko only sees Chiang.

With the whole world watching, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Nusa Dua, Indonesia. The meeting has been interpreted differently by the US and China, while other countries have offered their own assessments, but it is certain that US-China tensions have been mitigated, and the probability of war lowered.

Taiwan should seize this opportunity to upgrade its defensive capabilities. The nation must strive to consolidate its national power in the latter half of Biden’s term.