Taipei, Oct. 25 (CNA) The top envoys of Israel and Germany to Taiwan have spoken out against the use of the Nazi swastika flag by a small group of protesters outside the Taipei European School after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) condemned the ongoing protest last month.
The bilingual statement, signed by Maya Yaron, representative of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan, and Jörg Polster, representative of the German Institute Taipei, said they were grateful for MOFA’s statement issued in late September.
Issued amid an ongoing protest staged outside the Taipei European School in Shilin District that resumed as the new school year began, MOFA’s statement said it found the use of the Nazi flag “by a few Taiwanese citizens” regrettable and condemned their actions.
Neither MOFA nor the two representatives identified the protesters, but they are believed to be part of a group of supporters of the German Old Mark Association in Taipei that has staged similar protests outside the school for years.
The group has protested against Germany’s alleged refusal to reimburse bonds denominated in marks sold to Taiwanese people by the former Japanese colonial government in the 1920s, but it is unclear why they use Nazi symbols.
A German Institute Taipei official previously said the group has never presented evidence of actually holding such bonds, instead presenting photocopies of marks that have gone out of circulation and are worthless.
In their statement Wednesday, the representatives, the de facto ambassadors of their countries in the absence of diplomatic ties, wrote that as the “symbol of Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler,” the swastika flag stands for the “horror of World War II.”
“Against this background, the use of the symbols associated with the Nazi party, the swastika and the swastika flag, is still outlawed in Germany. Many other countries too have banned Nazi symbols,” the letter said.
That is why it has been “deeply troubling and offensive” that the Nazi symbol on large flags is being displayed “in the heart of Taipei,” they wrote.
“Israel, bearing the indelible scars of the Holocaust, understands intimately the pain and suffering that Nazi symbols inflict, as does Germany remembering its history,” they said.
The letter praised Taiwan for its democracy and condemnation of the flag’s use, and acknowledged the importance of freedom of speech, but said it is also “crucial to acknowledge the delicate balance between freedom of speech and the propagation of hate speech.”
“The latter should never find shield or justification under the banner of free expression,” the letter said, while objecting to the exposure of students to these “offensive symbols.”
Taiwan currently does not have anti-racial discrimination or anti-Semitism laws, but two members of the group were each fined NT$3,000 earlier this year by a Taipei court for violating the Social Order Maintenance Act during one of their protests.
