Recently, "Gym Owner" Chen Zhihan said he wants to launch a revolution in Taiwan to turn all Taiwanese into Chinese. Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) spokesperson Liang Wenjie responded that the issue between Taiwan and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never been about Chinese people or Chinese culture, but rather about systems and ideologies. Taiwanese want to live a life of freedom and democracy, and do not like the CCP's one-party dictatorship.
The "Gym Owner" recently said at a youth salon organized by the Kuomintang that China's attack on Taiwan "would be as easy as crushing a cockroach" and "I guarantee that within two minutes of fighting, the Republic of China would surrender." After the event, he went live and stated that after July 26, he wants to spark a revolution in Taiwan, which is to "turn all Taiwanese into Chinese."
According to a Central News Agency report, the MAC held a regular press conference on the 24th, and spokesperson Liang Wenjie responded to the relevant topic as above.
Liang Wenjie further explained that he believes the Gym Owner's rhetoric is not meant to stage a coup, but to start a cultural revolution. Such ideas and attempts have been done in the past by the New Party and the China Unification Promotion Party, and are not novel. However, based on long-term public opinion trends in Taiwan, he believes this will be very difficult to achieve.
Liang Wenjie also stated that the issue between Taiwan and the CCP has never been about Chinese people or Chinese culture, but about systems and ideologies. The fact that Taiwanese don't like the CCP does not mean they dislike China; Taiwanese want to live a free and democratic life, and do not like the CCP's one-party dictatorship.
Liang Wenjie said that in terms of Chinese culture, Taiwanese society has preserved more than the mainland. Taiwanese people talk about gentleness, kindness, respect, frugality, and humility, while the mainland talks about struggle and wolfishness. If you want to talk about Chinese culture, the mainland cannot compare with Taiwan. But the CCP doesn't believe in or is unwilling to admit this, and so they fabricate claims that the reason why Taiwanese do not want to be unified or ruled by the CCP is because Taiwan is pursuing "de-Sinicization."
He concluded by criticizing the Gym Owner's statement about turning Taiwanese into Chinese as "being poisoned by others." Over all these years, the dispute between Taiwan and the CCP is about what kind of political system people want to live under.