Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Hung Hsiu-chu/Facebook
FORMER KMT CHAIR Hung Hsiu-chu traveled to Beijing recently for a military parade commemorating the end of World War II. In China’s case, this was fought against Japan.
The military parade has attracted attention internationally, mostly on the basis of appearances not only by Chinese President Xi Jinping alongside other world leaders. This includes a number of authoritarian or dictatorial political leaders at or shortly before the parade, including Vladimir Putin of Russia, Kim Jong-un of North Korea, Narendra Modi of India, Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia, Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar, and others. Xi appearing alongside Modi, in particular, serves as a signal to the US that India will not simply fall in line with Donald Trump’s US.
To this extent, the parade serves as signaling about China’s current military capabilities. Analysts have suggested that China’s display of hypersonic missiles, previously not publicly see,n is aimed at signaling to Western powers the military capacities that could potentially be used to deter other regional powers from coming to Taiwan’s aid in the event of an invasion. Similarly, China emphasized anti-drone capabilities at a time when Taiwan has sought to emphasize its advancements in air and maritime drones, as a means of asymmetric warfare against a much larger invading force.
It may not be surprising that the DPP has condemned the military display. President Lai Ching-te of the DPP has framed anniversaries related to the end of World War II, whether that be the end of the War in Europe and the Pacific War, as a reminder of the importance of peace and the outcome that aggressor regimes who invade other countries face.
The KMT has to date been critical of how Lai framed the end of World War II, in that Lai did not bring up Japan. Further complicating matters, of course, is the fact that Taiwan was part of the Japanese empire as a colony during World War II, and Taiwanese soldiers fought in the imperial Japanese army.
Hung’s presence at the military parade raises questions, as ahead of the parade, the Taiwanese government had emphasized that there would be penalties for government officials or members of the military who attend. Participation in such events, especially when they involve declarations of loyalty to the PRC, is treason. And though Hung currently holds no political office, her actions still potentially cross a red line at a time when the Lai administration has threatened repercussions for actors that repost messages supportive of Chinese annexation of Taiwan by force around the time of military exercises or major holidays.
This is not the first time that Hung has waded into such controversies. Hung previously raised eyebrows in May 2022 over a visit to Xinjiang. While there, Hung praised the “social harmony” of the region, dismissing claims of Uyghurs coerced into forced labor in “reeducation” or “vocational” camps. Hung also expressed support for counter-terrorism legislation passed by China in Xinjiang.
In February of the same year, Hung traveled to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics. This visit also drew attention at the time, due to international condemnation of China for human rights violations during the Olympics. Still, when asked to comment on Hung’s Xinjiang visit, KMT chair Eric Chu–who is still the party chair–only responded that he believed that cross-strait exchanges were a good thing.
Hung’s tenure as KMT chair was notable because of Hung’s stark pro-unification views. In the aftermath of the 2014 Sunflower Movement, with the KMT facing unprecedented blowback over its pro-China image, Hung’s leadership of the party saw efforts to push the party toward a stance calling for immediate, not gradual or eventual, unification with China. Hung’s controversial views resulted in her being swapped out for Eric Chu as the KMT’s 2020 presidential candidate, something that had never previously occurred in the party’s history.
In this sense, Hung’s presence at the military parade is not exactly surprising. After the end of her chairmanship, Hung’s claim to relevance has primarily been appearing at Chinese state events. At the same time, it is a question how the KMT navigates the optics of Hung’s presence at the parade, and whether the Lai administration decides to take any action against Hung as it has sometimes been urged to, when the KMT already claims that the Lai administration is engaged in the targeting of political opponents through security measures in response to Chinese threats.