Emblem instructions on Nov 24, 2004

Emblem instructions confirmed

DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVE: The foreign ministry said Tien Hung-mao had ordered the use of the ROC flag on official papers in allied countries and the plum blossom in others

STAFF WRITER , WITH CNA
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed yesterday that it had sent instructions to its overseas missions four years ago about the principle to be used in displaying the national emblem -- a 12-point white sun on a blue background.

Ministry spokesman Michel Lu said that according to the principle, the Republic of China (ROC) flag and emblem are to be used in countries with which Taiwan maintains diplomatic relations, while pragmatism is to be pursued in countries which do not have formal ties with Taipei. He said the principle was based on pragmatic needs and to avoid any unnecessary confusion.

Lu made the remarks amid reports that former foreign minister Tien Hung-mao sent a message to overseas missions in November 2000 telling them to drop the use of the national emblem as the official logo and to replace it with the ROC flag on official invitations, menus, name cards, seating cards and stationery in countries with which Taiwan maintains formal diplomatic ties, and to use the plum blossom -- the national flower -- in other countries.

Lu confirmed that the ministry did send such a message.

Lo Chih-cheng, former director of the ministry's Research and Planning Board, said at the time that the change in policy was made mainly because the national emblem is similar to the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) emblem -- which is a 12-point white sun on a blue background -- and could create unnecessary misunderstanding.

Meanwhile, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Huang Suey-sheng said that the emblem on uniforms is the national emblem, adding that the question of whether this should be changed is for the Ministry of the Interior to decide.

Huang said that the use of the national emblem on uniforms is in accordance with the National Emblem Law .

He said he would not comment on the current debate over the national emblem, saying that it is not an issue for the defense ministry to decide.

In related news, the foreign ministry yesterday dismissed a media report claiming that aid to the West Pacific island nation of Palau has been misappropriated.

Donald Lee, deputy director of the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Department, said the report by a local weekly was groundless.

According to the report, Tai-wanese companies were barred from bidding for Taiwan-financed infrastructure construction projects in Palau, and the quality of the projects were worrisome.

Lee said tenders for all Taiwan-donated infrastructure construction projects in Palau have been carried out with the consent of the Palauan government and in compliance with the country's legal procedures.

"The report about excluding prospective Taiwanese contractors' participation in bidding and the poor quality of the construction projects was not true," Lee said.

DPP struggles to keep up with president

ELECTION RHETORIC: Chen Shui-bian has set a blistering pace on the campaign trail trying to keep the pan-blue camp on the ropes. Some in the DPP are gasping as well
By Huang Tai-lin
STAFF REPORTER
What kind of headline-grabbing rhetoric can be expected from President Chen Shui-bian  when he stumps for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative candidates this weekend?That's the question hovering over many people's minds.

Chen's aggressive campaigning over the past two weeks -- and the variety of subjects he has raised -- has not only left the pan-blue camp hard-pressed, but left some members of the pan-green camp struggling to keep up with him.

DPP legislative candidate Chang Ching-fang, seeking a seat in Taipei County, has complained that "President Chen is running too fast" in term of throwing out campaign subjects in the run-up to the Dec. 11 polls.

Since hitting the campaign trail on Nov. 12, Chen, who doubles as the DPP's chairman, has grabbed center stage with issues ranging from setting up a Taiwan truth investigation committee to allegations of a "soft coup" attempted by the pan-blue camp to demanding the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) change its party emblem or else he would try to amend the National Emblem Law in order to allow the government to force the party to make the change.

His combativeness and ideas have stirred up heated discussion in the media and among voters.

When asked about grumbling within the DPP about Chen's pace in launching campaign topics, Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Su Tseng-chang  said: "President Chen is looking at the whole issue from a high, broad point of view."

"All issues thrown out by President Chen have gone through careful consideration and reflection," Su said.

"Although some people have said that Chen's pace is too quick for them to catch up, generally speaking, his moves are helpful to the [pan-green's] electoral outlook as a whole," Su said.

A majority of DPP members have given the thumbs up to Chen's rhetoric.

"I think the range of issues launched by President Chen are helpful to our electoral outlook," said DPP caucus whip Tsai Huang-liang.

A quick review of recent news coverage of the campaign indicates the pan-green camp appears to have gained the upper hand in directing the campaign debate. Both the KMT and the People First Party (PFP) appear to be stuck in a defensive mode, reactive rather than pro-active.

Chin Heng-wei, editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine, said that the pan-blue camp only went on the offensive when KMT Chairman Lien Chan challenged Chen to have the DPP propose a referendum be held on the issue of unification or independence alongside the legislative polls.

"By introducing such an idea, the pan-blue camp hoped to gain territory and dominate the campaign discussion," Chin said. "Chen spiked the move with his reminder to Lien that it was the pan-blue camp who passed the so-called `bird-cage' Referendum Law last November, which restricts the issues that the public can vote on in a referendum."

Instead of scoring a point for the pan-blues, Lien's referendum remarks revealed his ignorance of the Referendum Law, Chin said.

History is all too often distorted by politics

By Chen Ro-jinn
If you look at it, much current political debate in Taiwan derives from historical controversy -- from questions over Chiang Kai-shek's merits to the argu-ments over national identity. The latest point of discussion is whether Sun Yat-sen  is the father of the nation, and if he had sought to save Taiwan. Amid the thick dust of battle, people should take a look at the historical facts informing this debate.

The last few generations have only been told that the father of the nation led the revolution, was undaunted in the face of numerous setbacks, established the Republic of China and should be seen as a great historical figure.

What the history books don't say is that he once said the two things he loved best were revolutions and women, or that when he reorganized his party into the China Revolutionary Party in the second year of the republic, he introduced a gangland-esque personality cult, with new initiates asked to swear that they were "prepared to sacrifice their personal freedom in order to follow Sun, on pain of death."

Missing also is how the revolutionary leader Huang Hsing deferred to Sun, allowing him to become president, and how the "martyrs of the revolution" had denounced him on more than one occasion. Neither will the history books discuss why Sung's wife, Soong Ching-ling criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for not implementing his three great policies.

After World War II the Tai-wanese were brainwashed for four decades. By making Sun an unblemished statesman it was easier to cast Chiang as his successor, consolidating his hold on power. There are other examples of historical manipulation, even the doctoring of photographs.

There are some who hold that Sun started the revolution to come to Taiwan's rescue. If that were the case, this would have been emblazoned in red, bold type in the textbooks decades ago, included in exams year after year, and students would have had to memorize it all. How is it that the KMT can't find evidence of this?

I have no idea whether Sun, when the republic was founded in 1912, intended to save Taiwan, which the Japanese had already held for 17 years. I can't say I have seen any evidence that he did, either. On the contrary, I have read that he counted many Japanese among his friends, who both sympathized with and supported his revolution, including the fourth governor of Taiwan, Kodamo Gentaro, and several former Japanese prime ministers.

Everyone over 30, back to at least three generations, should be wary of the history education they received and realize that a great deal of it was possibly somewhat at odds with the truth. It doesn't matter if people don't want to bone up on history in their spare time, but they shouldn't bristle with indignation whenever someone says something that diverges from what they have been told. They mustn't be fooled by politicians who criticize others for trying to indoctrinate them, and remember that they themselves are the products of indoctrination.

The deficiencies in history education in Taiwan are mirrored in China, and the stream of history has split into two branches. It seems that there are devils lurking behind Taiwan's history books. KMT Chairman Lien Chan's grandfather wrote A Comprehensive History of Taiwan, but this doesn't change anything for Lien himself: history and politics are two entirely different things.

Today's children have a bit more transparency in their history lessons, and they are relatively free of the constraints of ideological indoctrination. They learn about Koxinga, the war between the KMT and Communists and the Pingpu Aborigines.

Older people should not clutch their old history books and insist on telling younger people who saved Taiwan. Before one criticizes others for contorting history, one should first look at the nature of the history one has studied.

Chen Ro-jinn is a writer.

China an obstacle to peace

The annual APEC leader's summit ended on Sunday. As usual, Taiwan strictly abided by its status as a member economy and avoided political distur-bances. Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh -- the president's representative -- offered the leaders of 21 economic entities Taiwan's views regarding the avian flu epidemic and the establishment of a regional cooperation mechanism. In doing so, he received praise from all present.

Given Taiwan's current economic strength and in particular its information-technology industry, it is able to offer valuable experience to other states in the Asian-Pacific region. There is ample evidence that they could also learn from Taiwan's health and disease prevention experience. Although last year's SARS epidemic brought unprecedented panic, rapid and effective preventative measures were adopted and Taiwan successfully withstood the difficult test. Lee's suggestion of a vaccine development center was both timely and necessary.

The primary goal of the APEC meetings is to boost the economic prosperity of Pacific-Rim countries. To achieve this, Taiwan has always proposed constructive plans in the APEC's ministerial meetings as well as meetings for business leaders -- despite China's efforts to use such meetings as opportunities to oppress Taiwan internationally.

Taiwanese businesspeople have greatly contributed to China's role as the world's major manufacturing center today. Ever since the government removed most of its restrictions on investment in China in the early 1990s, massive amounts of the nation's capital and technology have been transferred to China, replacing other international capital as the driving force behind that country's rapid economic growth.

In other words, Taiwan has significantly contributed to the improved living standard of Chinese people. It really does not deserve Beijing's hostility.

For example, Beijing has objected to allowing Taiwan's popularly elected president to attend the APEC leaders' meetings. It has not given an inch on this issue. Seen from Taiwan's perspective, this attitude is extremely unreasonable. This sort of intransigence will only further hurt the relationship between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing's officials managed to enrage Taiwan with their behavior every year, with the result that the forces advocating Taiwan independence continue to gain strength. It is no wonder that the kind of Taiwan consciousness that supports the model of "one country on either side of the Strait" has grown so rapidly. Political relations grow increasingly distant -- but Beijing's wrongheaded policies toward Taipei are solely to blame for this.

Politics and economics are quite separate matters. Last month Taiwan was ranked fourth in terms of the competitiveness of its economy in an assessment by the World Economic Forum. A country with such strong competitiveness is not going to disappear from the international scene simply because it is ignored, boycotted or ostracized by China at international gatherings.

Beijing's continued reluctance to acknowledge Taiwan's existence and open channels of communication through which both sides of the Strait can engage in reasonable and friendly dialogue serves no one. Only through better communication can tensions in the Taiwan Strait be reduced and both sides contribute to developing prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.