When it comes to the question of presidential debates, time limitations force the audience to judge the candidates on performance and personality, not detailed explanations of their campaign platforms. Yet what most voters need is a firm and clear stance on specific policies and issues. In this regard, President Chen Shui-bian (
In a face-to-face confrontation such as a TV debate, self-confidence and a politician's adherence to his or her philosophy are two keys to win support from the audience. Usually the challenger is more aggressive in attacking the incumbent's policies. But last Saturday it was Chen who seemed to be playing the role of gladiator and Lien was on the defensive. While Lien asked if the pan-green camp had any evidence of China's alleged collaboration with the pan-blue camp, Chen focused attention on Lien's long-time embracing of the "one China" principle and highlighted the differences between Lien and his running mate, People First Party chairman James Soong (
Moreover, Lien's suggestion that sovereignty issues be pushed to the side illustrated his lack of determination to adhere to Taiwan's national interests. His response was simply more oscillation on the "one China" issue. Hardly the image of a strong and patriotic leader that one would think Lien would want to be pushing.
Lien could have accused Chen of being sitting on the fence on cross-strait relations by advocating "a future `one China'" and "political integration with China," while insisting that there are two countries on either side of the Taiwan Strait. Chen, however, gained support by remaining steadfast on Taiwan's independent sovereignty. Lien's personal shortcoming lie not only in his conservative, stiff and always looking-to-the past political mindset but also in his inability to coordinate differing opinions within the pan-blue camp.
In their attempt to boycott the referendum, pan-blue politicians have adopted diverse approaches. Contrary to Soong's explicit rejection of the referendum, Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
The pan-blue camp has long portrayed the Chen administration as vacillating in implementing policy. The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant fiasco, the bid to reform the farmers' and fishermen's cooperatives and its cross-strait policies are the most frequently cited cases. But to sabotage the government's efficiency is one thing, how to translate it into votes in the ballot box is another.
Lien's about-face in accepting the referendum as one step toward Taiwan's democratic consolidation and his bold proposal on constitutional reform demonstrated a lack of integrated policy within his camp. All his proposals reek of electioneering.
Lien owes voters a fair explanation of why he has introduced such dramatically different policy proposals over the past few months and in what direction this change will lead the nation. He needs not mute his desire for change or modify his ideas, but he must make sure his style matches the public's mood. Most importantly, by trying to convince voters that "moderation" is much more a key element of his personality than of Chen's, Lien will have to explain how he could turn moderate ideas into flexible and sometimes affirmative action.
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
In the 2022 book Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China, academics Hal Brands and Michael Beckley warned, against conventional wisdom, that it was not a rising China that the US and its allies had to fear, but a declining China. This is because “peaking powers” — nations at the peak of their relative power and staring over the precipice of decline — are particularly dangerous, as they might believe they only have a narrow window of opportunity to grab what they can before decline sets in, they said. The tailwinds that propelled China’s spectacular economic rise over the past