Tsai Ying-wen Must Order Those People to Stop Where They Should

  Tsai Ying-wen Must Order Those People to Stop Where They Should

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

March 3, 2017

Translation of an Except

The Ministry of Culture declared that the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall would stop selling Chiang's memorabilia, stop broadcasting the “Ode in Memory of Chiang”, and would rename the exhibit halls such as the "Chiang Kai-shek Hall".

President Tsai Ing-wen should have been alert that the Ministry of Culture was a government agency, and measures of this type have been considered as a part of the policy of "de-Chiang Kai-shek", "de-Republic of China" and "de-Sinicization" movement patronized by the Tsai government. She must stop where she should.

In as far as the February 28 Incident is concerned, although Chiang Kai-shek agreed to dispatch troops to quell the disorder, his hand-written instructions were clear-cut in ordering that the innocent not be harmed. Furthermore, viewed from the historical facts of the "Red 2/28", if the 2/28 Incident of 1947 had evolved into an extended battleground of the KMT-CCP Civil War and not been brought under control, Taiwan would possibly have "succumbed" ahead of the Mainland; that is to say the relocation of the national government to Taiwan in 1949 would not have happened and history would have been rewritten. To pinpoint Chiang Kai-shek as "the main culprit" of 2/28 to use this label to critique the entirety of Chiang Kai-shek's achievements and failings, it not only would be unfair, but also fundamentally not conform to the historical facts. To assess Chiang Kai-shek, we cannot limit ourselves to 2/28; this is not fair. To assess 2/28, if we omit the historical jigsaw puzzle pieces of the “Red 2/28” and "[Japanese] imperial subjects and the Taiwanese serving in the Japanese Imperial Army, then it will not be complete nor will it be true.

As far as cross-Strait relations are concerned, the reason behind the DPP’s de-Chiang Kai-shek, de-Sun Yat-sen, de-Republic of China, and de-Sinicization movement lies in its advocacy of Taiwan independence. However, Taiwan independence is a dead-end and the de-Republic of China movement means self-destruction. The reason is simple: Taiwan independence is a dead-end and Taiwan has to compete and cooperate with the other side of the Taiwan Strait; the only way is to rely on the Republic of China.

If the Tsai government resolutely pushes for Taiwan independence, it would continue doing what it has been doing until it hits the wall. However, if it comes back to its senses that Taiwan independence is a dead-end, then Tsai Ing-wen should do everything possible to stop these measures representing a counter current. In particular, the central government must stop where it should.

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