The main theme of the "defensive referendum" proposed by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is finally beginning to get some attention. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said on Tuesday that two examples of good topics for a referendum would be the "one country, two systems" model and on whether China should dismantle the missiles aimed at Taiwan.
Lee's timely clarification finally clears the doubts in Taiwan and abroad surrounding Chen's suggestion. It is obvious that the two topics now broached by the DPP do not touch on the unification-independence issue, nor do they conflict with Chen's "five noes."
Opposition to the "one country, two systems" model and anger over China's armed threats is common to all Taiwanese people. Using a defensive referendum to alert the international community to this situation and to win international support is a legitimate way for Taiwan to break through China's wall of threats. We do not believe that friendly countries, including the US, will oppose such action.
The DPP's fight for the referendum legislation -- which was ultimately successful once the blue camp agreed to support it, creating the first referendum legislation in the Chinese world -- allowed Chen to demonstrate to the Taiwanese people the bravery, experience and determination that a national leader should possess when leading Taiwan.
The blue camp's legislative majority meant the Referendum Law (公民投票法) was far from perfect, with many articles restricting the power of the people. Nevertheless, we finally have a legal basis for holding a referendum.
One year ago, when referendum legislation was promoted by no one except DPP Legislator Trong Chai (蔡同榮) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance made only sarcastic remarks about it, such as "a referendum law will bring disaster to the Taiwan Strait." Were it not for the DPP taking the initiative, who would have expected that Taiwan finally would get a Referendum Law?
Representing the old KMT power, both the KMT and the PFP have played a feudal, reactionary role when it comes to constitutional reform. During the KMT's rule, political reform was always initiated by the tang wai (黨外, "outside the party") forces and later the DPP. The price was imprisonment and political persecution of many democracy activists.
Now, even though the KMT and the PFP are in opposition, their reactionary instincts remain unchanged. At one point, they strongly resisted enacting a referendum law. Even Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) made the absurd accusation, by quoting a Taiwanese businessman, that the political environment in which the government was promoting referendums was like the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
As the ruling DPP continued to press the issue, however, the KMT-PFP alliance finally found no other way out than to present its own version. Although the DPP's version was overridden during the legislative process, the creation of the Referendum Law was a historically significant victory for the people of Taiwan.
Judging from the several township-level referendums conducted recently, rational and peaceful voting has finally replaced the previously frequent bloody protests by local residents. It only goes to show that Ma's remarks reflected his reactionary mentality. In other words, without referendums, people expressed themselves using violence; now that the referendum exists, they voice their opinions using the ballot.
The birth of the Referendum Law has once again highlighted the lonely, difficult role the DPP has played throughout the nation's development toward democracy. In the face of China's military threats, and carrying the great burden of opposing the blue camp, the DPP is now leading the Taiwanese people on its march forward.
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
RSS