Shen Boyang's definition of Taiwanese culture was criticized as "forgetting ancestors" Taiwan Foundation: Racist remarks are absurd and barbaric

With 22 days left until the 9-in-1 election, the Taipei mayoral race has entered a fierce stage. However, the spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China recently criticized Democratic Progressive Party candidate Shen Boyang for sharing "how to distinguish Chinese culture from Taiwanese culture." In this regard, Wang Xinghuanjin, chairman of Taiwan's Foundation Progressive Party, said that the Taiwanese people have the freedom not to be Chinese, and denounced the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council for defining national belonging based on blood and denying personal identity choices, which is contrary to modern civilization.

Facing Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan seeking an "encore" re-election, Shen Boyang's "ocean current" wave exceeded expectations in this election. Former People's Party Chairman Ko Wenzhe recently named Shen and asked him how to distinguish "Taiwanese culture and Chinese culture." Afterwards, Shen was interviewed and said that Taiwanese culture Integrating aboriginal, Hakka, Zhangquan, Japanese rule and Chinese culture; Unexpectedly, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China was asked about this at a regular press conference the day before yesterday. He criticized Shen for "putting the cart before the horse and forgetting about ancestors", emphasizing that Chinese culture is the root and belonging of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

In this regard, Wang Xinghuan said that the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council maintains that as long as a person's ancestors are recognized as Chinese, they must identify with China. On the contrary, it is "forgetting ancestors". This logic of determining national affiliation and political allegiance based on blood is essentially inescapable racism. He pointed out that Americans' language and customs originated from the United Kingdom, but the United Kingdom did not accuse Americans of "forgetting their ancestors"; Latin American countries generally use Spanish, and Austria and Germany also use German. No one advocated unification based on this, and directly criticized the CCP as absurd.

Wang Xinghuan emphasized that the "blood theory" of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council cannot explain the composition of Taiwanese society, such as the Taiwanese aboriginal people who have lived on the island for thousands of years and the new residents from Southeast Asian countries who have settled in Taiwan and had children. Taiwan's history covers the Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese rule experiences and post-war immigration. Even though Chinese culture is one of the sources of Taiwanese culture, it is not the "root" of Taiwan, and it cannot be used to claim that Taiwan belongs to China. He criticized the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council for defining Taiwanese by "speaking Chinese and writing Chinese characters." The argument is quite barbaric.

Wang Xinghuan reiterated that people's freedom of choice is the core principle of modern "national self-determination." French thinker Renan once said that the existence of a nation does not lie in blood or language, but in common life, common memory, and choices for the future. The United Nations Charter and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights both confirm that people have the right to self-determination. Everyone in modern civilization has the right to freely choose their nation. Therefore, Taiwanese people have the freedom not to be Chinese and have the right not to let the backward blood theory determine the future.