President Chen Shui-bian (
While the opposition parties have portrayed Chen's moves to hold a referendum as walking on a tightrope and pushing the nation's 23 million people to the brink of war with China, more attention must be paid to Chen's New Year address.
There are four main messages contained in the speech.
First, Chen emphasized that over the past three years, with the utmost sincerity and goodwill, his administration has made efforts to create a positive environment for cross-strait relations, based on the principles of reconciliation, cooperation and peace. Most people tend to overlook how little goodwill Chen has received from his counterparts in Beijing in response.
Despite the absence of a response from China, the Chen administration has consistently taken the approach of a "firm position advanced pragmatically" in its constant promotion of cultural, economic and political interaction. In this regard, when it comes to the question of how to break the cross-strait deadlock, the international community, including the US, should take into account how China has ignored Chen's olive branch.
Second, Chen stated the fact that people in both countries share common ancestors, a similar cultural heritage and closely related history. This constitutes the basis for people across the Taiwan Strait to pursue reconciliation, instead of political confrontation. This is another goodwill gesture on the part of Taiwan's president that could open a window of opportunity for cross-strait rapprochement.
Third, Chen called on Beijing to accept the democratic choice made by the people of Taiwan in the upcoming presidential election. China has adopted a strategy of watching Chen's words and actions while bypassing his administration in cross-strait interaction, but there is no chance that the Chinese leadership can avoid reopening bilateral talks with Taiwan -- even if Chen is
re-elected.
Finally, and most importantly, Chen answered questions raised by some people about the legitimacy of the defensive referendum. While some contend that there is no need to ask the Taiwanese people to vote on a question that might attract 99 percent support, Chen's message has both symbolic and policy implications.
Not only would it demonstrate that the referendum is a manifestation of the people's will to urge China to renounce the use of force and its missile threat, it is also consistent with his emerging cross-strait plan.
Chen stressed that "leaders of both Taiwan and China will have a historic opportunity to demonstrate their wisdom in creating a brand new vision for economic cooperation and political reconciliation across the Strait, thereby making the greatest contribution to the prosperity of the peoples on both sides." This may be an unsurprising statement, but it comes with new meaning.
It suggests that a "window of opportunity" will reopen after the election, when China will have no choice but to deal with the re-elected Chen. Even if it has to deal with a resurgent Lien Chan (
Whoever wins the presidential election must listen to the new voice of Taiwan. And the fact is, the pan-blue camp has been tilting toward the pan-green camp on issues of national identification. Lien Chan even publicly endorsed the notion of "one country on each side" of the Taiwan Strait. The pan-blue camp also called for Beijing to withdraw the missiles aimed at Taiwan. What Beijing must recognize is the new mandate that exists in Taiwan. It can no longer treat the nation like a concubine.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
RSS