The on-again-off-again relationship between KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
It is too early for the pan-blue alliance to toast champagne. Things are not as simple as a date on Valentine's Day. First, the Public Officials Election and Recall Law (
Even if they want to officially tie the knot, they will first have to jump over a big hurdle. Cohabitation is enough to bring problems. Soong garnered a substantial number of votes in the 2000 presidential election. Together with the votes Lien received, their number of votes exceeded those of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by about 2 million votes. But, politics is not a matter of one plus one equals two. The attitude and popular will of the voters at any given time and in response to any given mix of candidates are what count. In these past few years, the political charisma of Soong has nose-dived. Suspicions about his political and moral virtues brought on by the Chung-hsing financial bill scandal remain. Soong's kneeling act before last year's mayoral election and the implication of several PFP Kaohsiung city councilmen in a vote-buying scandal have besmirched Soong's reputation. The KMT may be happy now, but it will soon discover Soong to be a shrewd who relishes political struggle and power grabbing. Lien will be marginalized in the election. The painful battle between the two parties is just beginning.
Soong gave a long speech on the eve of the announcement of the alliance, supposedly giving his views about the current state of affairs in Taiwan. He had no answers to give, only problems to pose. Soong's speech may have spoken the mind of some, but people do not necessarily vote based on sentiment. They need answers. "Thanks for the nuts, but where are the bolts?" they ask.
There is no denying that Chen's performance during the past three years of his presidency has been less than praiseworthy. But, the current problems are mostly remnants of the KMT era. The voters handed power to the DPP because they were dissatisfied with the slow pace of reform by the KMT. Can all these problems be solved with another change of ruling party? The KMT-PFP alliance must pitch more substantial proposals to the public and demonstrate greater determination to reform in order to convince the voters to cast their votes for them. Paying lip service to anti-government sentiment won't win them any votes.
The merging and split of parties and the rise and fall of political figures are all superficial aspects of politics. The essence of politics is to safeguard the welfare of the public. Taiwan's politicians and media waste too much energy on these superficial aspects. They are both out of focus and in dereliction of their duties. Let it be known to all interested in running for the presidency -- reforms and the economy are what matter to the voters.
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
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