Taiwan tells citizens to skip China Sun Yat-sen birthday event — SkimNews
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- Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council told citizens to shun China's November 12 events marking Sun Yat-sen's 160th birthday, accusing Beijing of using the commemorations to promote 'opposing Taiwan independence and promoting unification.'
- Sun Yat-sen led the 1911 revolution that ended imperial rule and founded the Republic of China, which fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists.
- China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment, and China has not detailed what events it will hold for the anniversary.
- Xi Jinping said in a 2016 speech that Sun opposed attempts to 'split the country' and called 'complete reunification of the motherland' a sacred duty for all Chinese.
- In Taiwan, Sun remains the official 'father of the nation' — his portrait hangs in the presidential office — though his 'Three Principles of the People' is no longer required school reading.
- Taiwan's government has separately accused Beijing of wrongly claiming credit for the WWII victory, noting the People's Republic of China did not exist at the time.
- China calls President Lai Ching-te a 'separatist' and has refused dialogue; Lai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
Why it matters: Taiwan's November 12 boycott advisory against an event honoring the figure Taipei itself calls 'father of the nation' shows how shared history has become a liability — every commemoration Beijing hosts for Sun Yat-sen now forces Taipei into harder pushback, narrowing the room for cross-strait cultural or diplomatic exchange.
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