President Chen Shui-bian (
Two odd aspects of this situation stand out.
First, Article 17 of the Referendum Law (
In light of this, defensive referendums are based on the premise of national sovereignty. It is strange that the US opposes a defensive referendum in the same way that it opposes independence. We can conclude that what the US opposes is not a defensive referendum, but the premise of such a referendum -- Taiwanese sovereignty.
Second, therefore, perhaps the threat to Taiwan's sovereignty is not only China's missiles, but also the US' verbal threats.
Taiwan should not just single-mindedly focus on China's threats, but also be conscious of the control exerted by the US' hegemony.
Isn't the US trying to deny Taiwan's sovereignty by threatening inaction -- not selling weapons to Taiwan? No wonder some say that if Taiwan became a state or a colony of the US, perhaps it would spend less money paying taxes to the federal government than it now spends buying weapons.
Chen's hasty proposal to hold a defensive referendum has plunged the pan-green camp's election campaign into a muddle. Though he knows that swing voters hold the key to the election, Chen has lurched to an extreme position.
Perhaps Chen should consider making the preamble of a new constitution the subject of the defensive referendum.
Putting the preamble of a new constitution to a referendum would not be amending the Constitution, nor would it be creating a new constitution. It would be a declaration to open up the political future of the people of Taiwan.
As long as the content of a proposed preamble is appropriate, the pan-blue camp would find it hard to oppose a referendum on the issue. Furthermore, China and the US -- the two big nations that threaten Taiwan's sovereignty -- would not be in a position to say anything against it.
But this move could also become a turning point for creating a new constitution or amending the current one on a large scale.
The preamble to a new constitution might include the following four points:
Taiwan has independent sovereignty and a free and democratic system;
Unification can be negotiated when one day China achieves a certain level of freedom and democratic and economic development;
Changes to Taiwan's status quo should be decided by the people through a referendum;
Taiwanese people need a new constitution to meet their development needs in the new century, and the current Constitution must be frozen.
Given Taiwan's fragmentary sovereignty, these four main points might be the best political plan to guard against threats from China and the US. An overhaul of the Constitution is of great urgency if we set aside electoral considerations and focus instead on Taiwan's future.
Yen Chueh-an is a law professor at National Taiwan University.
Translated by Jackie Lin
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