The US Congress and Taiwan's Legislative Yuan both face very difficult but important challenges ahead. The US Constitution finessed any formal role for the Congress in America's international affairs, but assured that it has important means to influence such issues. The events of Sept. 11 and the resulting changes in managing security and international relations have generated new policies that Congress must soon address.
In Taiwan, the Constitution has yet to be adjusted to the reality of today's ROC. In the near future the Legislative Yuan may be called on to meet similar fundamental challenges in developing a consensus on Taiwan's identity.
We are all in an very unclear period of time. In the US, the executive branch is developing new policies, and the Congress will soon have to begin addressing them. They will cover very formidable issues, including the need to change what has been a security policy based on containing hostile actions to a policy of pre-empting them before such acts take place.
Such a change now seems inevitable following the acts of terrorism on Sept. 11 and the apparent breakdown of the proliferation regimes on nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. A policy of preemption, for example, is now being used to attack Iraq.
There are indeed many questions on how to establish legitimacy for starting a war. For one, who decides why and when to take pre-emptive action? But those who question the need for such a shift in policy do not have any effective answer as to what alternatives exist. Must a catastrophe happen before a legitimate response can be made?
For a political leader in a democracy, especially one who leads a country that is the major target of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction, inaction is not a satisfactory alternative. Now that catastrophic attacks can be made by less than sovereign states, the nature of war has changed beyond anything thought possible in the past.
In turn, these changed circumstances have a very important impact on how to protect the fundamental values of democratic societies that fought so hard and so long to establish them. How should present values be adjusted to accommodate this new environment?
Already, there are questions being asked about fundamental human rights -- laws regarding arrest and prosecution, for example. And in the US, the always sensitive and very fundamental issue of immigration and citizenship arises.
The challenges facing Congress in meeting the changes in laws that will be needed and, at the same time, making changes that are acceptable to the voters, are awesome. Many of these changes, perhaps most, will be controversial and require open and probably long public debate. Under normal circumstances, it would require years to resolve such issues.
Added to the difficulties this entails in the domestic debate is the "globalized" world that has developed these past few decades, and the multilateral institutions that have been established to set rules and cope with differences on an international scale. The time it would take to come to some conclusion on each one of them could amount to years.
The many challenges that the Legislative Yuan face may be of a different nature, but they are of fundamental importance to the people of Taiwan.
The most immediate challenge is to complete critical and urgent reforms to the economy, security and the government. The reforms are needed because they could consolidate the type of democracy and system of government the country will have in the years ahead. Once established, the fundamental -- and most difficult -- challenge of forging a consensus on national identity can at least begin to be addressed.
The government has four broad reforms on the agenda -- economic restructuring, national security organization and policy, "black gold" reform and legislative reform.
All these, in varying degrees, have been debated in the Legislative Yuan, and some laws have been passed, usually with more partisan objectives than national interest. But as in most legislatures in a democratic system, passage takes time.
Economic reform has been debated for more than a year. Some legislation has been passed, but more is needed urgently. Implementation of those that have already become law has made some progress but the urgency, in both political and economic terms, remains acute.
The Legislative Yuan has done the fundamental work of passing laws with regard to reform of the military establishment. Implementing the policies that have resulted from this remains the major problem. In the effort to address "black gold," however, considerable progress has been made.
The remaining element of this reform is the passage of laws restricting the accumulation of wealth by political parties. The principles on addressing this problem are generally acceptable, but the legislation that is required will still be difficult to pass in the year that remains before then next presidential election.
The real challenge for the Legislative Yuan, while completing these important reforms, is addressing the need for changes in the legislature itself. These changes include both the number of legislators and a more appropriate means of electing them.
The proposal to reduce the number of members from 225 to 150 seems to have considerable support. Less is said about changing the electoral system from a multiple-seats system to a single seat in a redrawn map of each constituency.
Such changes would strengthen the Legislative Yuan. They will be needed as the country moves toward future amendments more directly related to the fundamental problem of national identity.
An important factor for both legislatures is the schedule of elections next year. Taiwan's presidential campaign will dominate political activity between now and next March. Almost immediately thereafter, the campaign for the December legislative election will begin.
At the same time, the US president and the Congress, as in Taiwan, must face economic and security issues while beginning the campaigns for next year's elections. All of this adds to the obstacles to progress on badly needed legislation.
Nonetheless, both legislatures face a future debate that could fundamentally change their respective countries.
Once the dust is settled on the Iraq issue, the experience with that conflict, the Afghan war, and the ongoing pursuit of terrorists will all form the bases for debate on changes in laws, rules and traditions that address the circumstances the US now faces.
Similarly, if the Legislative Yuan can complete in a timely way the challenges of reform that it now faces, it will be better prepared to play an important role as the country moves toward the time when the fundamental problem of national identity is addressed.
Nat Bellocchi is the former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan and is now a special adviser to the Liberty Times Group. The views expressed in this article are his own.
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