A_musing Ac_dropout

http://english.www.gov.tw/index.jsp?action=cna&cnaid=8311

NATIVE LAWMAKER AGAINST TSU CHAIRMAN'S PLAN TO VISIT YASUKUNI SHRINE
2005/04/04 17:13:07
Taipei, April 4 (CNA) Aboriginal Legislator May Kao-Chin from the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union protested in strong words Monday against the forthcoming visit to Japan's Yasukuni Shrine by Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Su Chin-chiang. Wearing head gear adorned with the Chinese characters for "protest" and historical pictures, Kao-Chin lodged the protest at the headquarters of the TSU, lambasting Su's plan to visit the Japanese temple dedicated to war dead as "selling his soul to the devil for political gain."

Local newspapers reported Monday that Su plans to pay tribute to the nearly
30,000 "patriotic" Taiwanese commemorated at the Yasukuni Shrine who were killed during World War II fighting for Japan.

If they were indeed "patriotic, " Kao-Chin asked which side they supported - - Taiwan or Japan? Japan, Kao-Chin added, killed numerous Taiwanese, including aborigines, before and during its rule of Taiwan. Kao-Chin likened Su's upcoming visit to the Yasukuni Shrine to the Jews worshipping their Nazi rulers and murderers. Discounting Kao-Chin's broadside, TSU Secretary-General Chen Chien-ming said that Su is not going to pay tribute to the Japanese war dead, but to the soldiers who came from Taiwan.

Noting that the people of Taiwan were not only the victims of atrocities committed by the Japanese, they were also victims of Chinese brutality, Chen called for tolerance toward diverse voices and different opinions in society. Chen asked that Kao-Chin direct her hatred away from Taiwan or Japan and focus it on China. The Yasukuni Shrine, situated in central Tokyo just outside the moat to the Imperial Palace, is dedicated to about 2.46 million people who have died in Japan's conflicts between 1853 and 1945. Of the total enshrined, 1,068 are convicted war criminals. Su will be traveling to Japan in the near future, mainly to mark the establishment of a TSU branch in Japan. (By Deborah Kuo)
ENDITEM/mw

The TSU headed by their "spiritual leader" Lee Tung Huei, former President of Taiwan, must be the most destructive elements in Taiwan society. Not only are they insensitive to the fact that only a small minority of Taiwanese ever accepted the Japanese identity of being second class citizens on Taiwan, they cannot accept the fact that many people on Taiwan embrace their Chinese heritage and culture over the imposed Japanese colonial identity.

There argument of Taiwan Independence is very divisive on Taiwan, because it usually starts with controversial political positions, such as:

1. Taiwanese, not Chinese [both culturally and politically]
2. Japan's colonial period was better than KMT nation building period on Taiwan
   

One needs to question, like Legislature May Kao-Chin, where do these individual loyalties lie? Is it with the Japanese they so long admire and wish for the return of on Taiwan? Or is it to Taiwan and the ROC, the current government on Taiwan, which ironically gave the TSU political equality to have a voice, which the Japanese never allowed for natives of Taiwan.

Taiwan's past has always been intertwined with Chinese roots. Taiwan's future is also has China in it horizons. Those that reject their Chinese identity on Taiwan and the Chinese government on Taiwan are truly voices of a lost cause.

Even the Koreans, who were also colonies of imperial Japan, know they were never on equal footing with the Japanese. Many Zainichi suffer horrible discrimination to this day in Japan. They have enough sense to protest Japanese Presidents that have made visits Yasukuni Shrine. It is unfortunate the Japanese quisling on Taiwan, don't have that same kind of sense.