The KMT does not understand ChineseBy John ChengIn an opinion piece (“Surrendering cannot bring peace,” April 9, page 8), Chang Kuo-tsai (張國財) argued that the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) video promotion of “lying flat” (躺平) as a vision for peace is, in essence, a call to surrender. It shows young people stretched out on lush grass and floating on the serene waters of a pool, ostensibly “lying flat” in total security. It adopted “lying flat” — a term that, across the Chinese-speaking world, has come to symbolize the hollowed-out despair of a generation that has given up on the future. Once autonomy is surrendered, “lying flat” ceases to be a luxury and becomes a refuge. John Cheng is a retired businessman from Hong Kong now living in Taiwan.

Source: Taipei Times April 11, 2026 20:18 UTC