Roger Waters lambasted as 'little pink' for Taiwan take

TAIPEI (Taiwan News), -- Roger Waters, founder of Pink Floyd, was widely criticized in the West. However, praise was heaped on Chinese state media for his claim Taiwan is part China.

China used Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. House Speaker,'s visit to Taiwan to launch four days of military exercises and live fire drills in six areas around Taiwan between Aug. 4 and 7. CNN's Michael Smerconish released footage of a conversation with Roger Waters, 78, a founding member of Pink Floyd. The interview was recorded during PLA's war games.

Smerconish asked Waters about the reasons behind his warning to his audience about his political views at his shows' beginnings. Waters claimed that Russia invaded Ukraine because the U.S. would have similar actions if "the Chinese were putting nuke-armed missiles into Mexico and Canada."

Smerconish replied that "the Chinese were too busy encircling Taiwan while we speak." Waters responded by saying, "They'ren't encircling Taiwan!" Taiwan is part China. This has been universally accepted by the international community since 1948. If you don't know this, you aren't reading enough. Read about it.

Waters doesn't know what he is referring to in 1948. The Republic of China (ROC), now based in Taiwan was already a founding member of United Nations in 1945. Waters referred to the year during which the Chinese Civil War (KMT) was taking place between Kuomintang forces of the ROC (CCP).

Waters could refer to 1949, when the KMT forces fled to Taiwan and moved their capital to Taipei. The war has not been officially ended and the CCP regime in Beijing has never ruled Taiwan. Both countries have diplomatic allies and stints at the UN.

The Taiwan segment of the interview was quickly retweeted by Chinese state-run media. CGTN reporter Li Jinjing, Li Jing Jing ), claimed that Smerconish had "made a fool out of himself with his ignorance," while Hua Chunying (Hua Chun Ying ), and Qin Gang (Qin Gang ), both Foreign Ministry Spokespersons, tweeted Water's quote regarding Taiwan's status verbatum.

Alex Bristow, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Defense, Strategy, and National Security Program's Defense, Strategy, and National Security Program's Defense, Strategy, and National Security Program's Defense, Strategy, and National Security program's deputy director, asked Waters which "Division Bell" he was working on. He replied "He's clearly onto the Dark Side of the Moon," referring to Pink Floyd albums. He pointed out that Taiwan was never ruled over by the CCP.

Jojje Olsson, a Swedish journalist, criticized CNN's lack of Taiwanese analysts and citizens in its contact list. He also said that Roger Waters' intellectual flexibility is lacking.

Wu Yi Ci - Emily Y. Wu, a podcaster, advised Waters that she listen to her show Metalhead Politics, which is hosted by Freddy Lim (Lin Chang Zuo ), a Taiwanese musician and independent legislator. She also noticed that some Twitter users had joked about the Pink Floyd singer being a "Little Pink", which is a derogatory term used online for jingoistic Chinese nationalists.

Wang Yaqiu (Wang Ya Qiu), a senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch, wrote that "Arrogance" is the conjoined twin to ignorance. Wang stated that Waters' views about Taiwan were irrelevant, but he indicated that such behavior raises the question of "is the CCP becoming better at putting these lies into people's minds around the globe?"