TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Taiwan’s rescue team of 130 people rushes to save lives in Turkey following Monday’s (Jan. 6) earthquake, Chinese netizens have been trying to rename it the “Taiwan, China” rescue team.
On Tuesday (Feb. 7), after Taiwan sent the first group of 40 rescuers and three dogs to Turkey, a user on China’s Twitter-like Weibo named “Rabbit With Open Eyes” (睜開眼睛的兔子) wrote in a post, “Following the earthquake in Turkey, Taiwan, China’s rescue team has taken off.”
User “Taiwan Frog Things” (台灣蛙事兒) wrote in another post, “China has extended a helping hand to Turkey!” The post detailed that “Taipei, Taiwan, China” sent 30 people and two rescue dogs to Turkey.
“Taiwan Frog” is a derogatory term used by Chinese netizens when referring to Taiwanese. The term refers to the idiom "the frog in the well" that describes people with a narrow outlook.
UDN reported that in response to this, Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said during a press conference on Wednesday (Feb. 8) it is “sad” while Taiwan busied itself saving people, Chinese media and netizens were promoting propaganda and trying to claim credit. He added that in times of distress, Taiwan is always ready to help people around the world, no matter if they live in countries with or without official ties to Taiwan.