Three days from now, voters will be making a choice between the ticket of President Chen Shui-bian (
But the significance of this time's vote goes beyond choosing the country's leadership for the next four years.
In light of the differences between the China policies of Chen and Lien, Saturday's vote will determine the nation's future relations with China. It will determine whether Taiwan will leave China's shadow behind and walk its own path, or whether walk backwards to past KMT rule -- and have its Taiwanese awareness suppressed by the pan-blue camp and accept Beijing's manipulation.
The DPP's campaign headquarters also has decided to focus the final days of the campaign on Taiwanese awareness and opposition to "black gold" politics.
Lien and Soong prostrated and kissed the ground last Saturday in an attempt to prove their love for Taiwan and win over the hearts of middle-of-the-road voters. But their pretension was hardly convincing. In its editorial yesterday, the Chinese-language Liberty Times [the Taipei Times' sister paper] minced no words about Lien and Soong's behavior. The editorial asked whether the two men kissed the land of Taiwan, or did they kiss the land of a province of China? Would a politician ever need to kneel down and kiss the ground to show his love for Taiwan if he or she has fought for the construction of Taiwanese awareness, or if he or she has taken to the streets to join hands with others in protest against Chinese missiles?
After 2 million people took to the streets to say no to China on Feb. 28, the KMT-PFP camp immediately began organizing rallies for last Saturday in an attempt to kiss up to China. The message that the pan-blue camp sent to Beijing was: "Master, you need not worry that the Taiwanese people may resist you. Look, we have more people loyal to China. We can show them what we are made of." So they prostrated themselves and kissed the land of Taiwan Province, China; they have always viewed this nation that way.
In another sign of apparent desperation, fugitive tycoon Chen Yu-hao (
Another dubious character who has popped up to back the pan-blue ticket is Chu An-hsiung (
Saturday's election comes down to the choice between a vote for a future for Taiwan or a vote for the past.
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,
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