TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters drew widespread criticism in the West and praise on Chinese state-run media for his claim that Taiwan is part of China.
Using U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan as a pretext, China launched four days of massive military exercises and live-fire drills in six zones around Taiwan from Aug. 4 to 7. In the midst of the PLA's war games, CNN's Michael Smerconish on Saturday (Aug. 6) released footage from an interview with 78-year-old Pink Floyd founding member Roger Waters, who took a notably strong pro-Beijing stance on Taiwan's political status.
In the interview, Smerconish asked Waters to explain the rationale behind his warning to his audience members about his political views at the start of his shows. At one point, Waters justified Russia's invasion of Ukraine by arguing the U.S. would take similar action if "the Chinese were putting nuclear-armed missiles into Mexico or Canada."
Smerconish retorted that "the Chinese are too busy encircling Taiwan as we speak." This spurred Waters to respond by claiming, "They're not encircling Taiwan! Taiwan is part of China. And that's been absolutely accepted by the whole of the international community since 1948 and if you don't know that, you're not reading enough. Go and read about it."
It's not clear what Waters is referring to in 1948, as the Republic of China (ROC), which is now based in Taiwan, had already become a founding member of the United Nations in 1945. The year that Waters cited was during the height of the Chinese Civil War between Kuomintang (KMT) forces of the ROC and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Waters could be referring to 1949, when KMT forces retreated to Taiwan, and relocated their capital to Taipei. However, the war has never officially come to an end and at no point has the CCP regime in Beijing ruled over Taiwan, with both countries having diplomatic allies and stints in the UN
Chinese state-run media figures were quick to retweet the Taiwan segment of the interview. CGTN reporter Li Jinjing (李菁菁) claimed that Smerconish "made a fool of himself with his ignorance," while Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying (華春瑩) and Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Qin Gang (秦剛) tweeted Water's quote about Taiwan's status verbatum.
Alex Bristow, deputy director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Defense, Strategy and National Security Program asked which "Division Bell" Waters was working on and argued "He's clearly on the Dark Side of the Moon," in reference to Pink Floyd albums. He then pointed out that Taiwan has never been ruled by the CCP.
Swedish journalist Jojje Olsson criticized CNN for having a "shortage of Taiwanese analysts or even just citizens" in its list of contacts. He added that there is also a "shortage of intellectual flexibility in the mind of Roger Waters."
Podcaster Emily Y. Wu (吳怡慈), advised Waters to listen to her show "Metalhead Politics," which is co-hosted by Taiwanese metal musician and independent legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐). She also observed that some Twitter users have jokingly referred to the Pink Floyd singer as a "Little Pink" (小粉紅), a derogatory term for jingoistic Chinese nationalists online.
Wang Yaqiu (王亞秋), a senior China researcher for Human Rights Watch wrote that "Arrogance is the conjoined twin of ignorance." Wang asserted that Waters' views on Taiwan are irrelevant, but indicated that such behavior begs the question: "is the CCP getting better at imparting these lies into the minds of people around the world?"
What the Division Bell is Roger Waters on? He’s clearly been living on The Dark Side of the Moon. Taiwan has never been ruled by communist China. History lesson available here: https://t.co/UwhXGOnSjL https://t.co/Z5iqjs55Ws
— Alex Bristow 史德礼 (@AlexBristowASPI) August 7, 2022
Seems to be a shortage of Taiwanese analysts or even just citizens in the contact list of CNN. And a shortage of intellectual flexibility in the mind of Roger Waters. https://t.co/Lopk5uVL7N
— Jojje Olsson (@jojjeols) August 7, 2022
Roger Walters needs to listen to #MetalheadPolitics. One comment pointed out that Pink Floyd has become a Little Link 小粉紅@CNN if you want a rocker's opinion, here's one: metal band co-founder who can actually speak to Taiwan/China geopolitics. He's an MP, @FreddyLim. https://t.co/q1MfVnxIN7
— Emily Y. Wu (@emilyywu) August 7, 2022
Arrogance is the conjoined twin of ignorance. What Roger Waters and alike think about Taiwan is mostly irrelevant. I hope it stays that way. But one has to wonder: is the CCP getting better at imparting these lies into the minds of people around the world? https://t.co/GGKF8BJvKk
— Yaqiu Wang 王亚秋 (@Yaqiu) August 7, 2022