Shame Theater

As supporters of the Taiwan People’s Party staged a march last Sunday outside the headquarters of the country’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to protest election recalls scheduled for July 26, they resorted to a stunt many Taiwanese would find too perplexing to understand as a provocation. Dear NANA, an influencer aligned with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), staged an event called “Cleansing the Sins of Democracy” (民主罪人洗門風), during which participants wore Cultural Revolution-style tall hats and placards around their necks while apologizing to passersby for voting in the past for the DPP. Several attendees, including the TPP’s secretary-general, had “shame” written on their foreheads — a reference to the humiliation to which many were subjected under Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The spectacle sparked an online backlash but received minimal mainstream media coverage. These are historical references few Taiwanese would understand.