The display of a Nazi swastika in a Wanhua betel nut store is no isolated incident, writes Brian Hioe.
The News Lens
Date: 2019/01/17
By: Brian Hioe, 破土 New Bloom
Credit: Instagram
The issue of anti-Semitic symbols openly displayed in Taiwan is again in the news after a betel nut store in Wanhua, Taipei was found to have two Nazi flags hanging in the store. That the Wanhua betel nut store was displaying a Nazi flag came to light after an American photographer posted a photo of the store on Instagram on Jan. 6, commenting that “Taiwan still didn’t get the memo about what has happened in past history. Absolute cluelessness”.
The Instagram photographer in question, however, was subsequently attacked by nationalistic Taiwanese netizens who referred to him as “white trash” and called on him to “go back to America,” leading him to change the settings on his Instagram account to private. The photographer had reportedly been living in Taiwan for two and a half years and has publicly stated that the incident was a factor in leading him to decide to return to America.
However, when questioned about his decision to hang Nazi flags in his store by the Apple Daily on Jan. 8, the store owner defended his choice of decoration, claiming that the flags were merely “art” and claiming that Nazis had little to do with Taiwan and so it was valid for him to hang the flags. Reportedly, the sign had been hanging in the store for several years before it came to public attention.
A statement would later be issued by the Chabad Taipei Jewish Center, emphasizing that the use of the Nazi flag is “extraordinarily hurtful to the Jewish people” as a symbol of the Nazi regime, and an act “disrespectful to human rights”. In its statement, the Chabad Taipei Jewish Center would also state that, at the same time, it rejected the “any stereotyping of the people of Taiwan”, as in the comments by the American photographer. To this end, the statement emphasizes that as “Taiwan has worked hard to bring about transitional justice and unity across ethnic groups, and Taiwan is generally accepting of and open to different cultures and religions”, calling on Taiwan to live up to these words. [FULL STORY]
