How on earth did we get here? After 16 years of peaceful political transformation how did we get to the stage where President Chen Shui-bian (
First, the government deserves credit for its handling of the situation. It must have been tempting to call off the election, given yesterday's events. But this would only further increase the pressure cooker-like atmosphere that has been building up in the last few days, making more violence possible if not inevitable. When bullets start flying it is as well to get people off the streets as quickly as possible. Going ahead with the election was the best way to do this.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was also wise to call off its campaigning for last night. With Chen and Lu in hospital, it might have seemed to have little choice. But the party could have fielded any number of major figures, including respected figures not in themselves politicians such has Nobel Laureate Lee Yuan-tseh (
The plan-blue campaign followed suit, for continuing to campaign while Chen and Lu lay in hospital would have been a solecism too far for the nation's voters.
So far, so responsible. But there were less edifying aspects in some reactions as well. Some pan-blues were quick to try to paint the act as something performed by the DPP in desperation to try to win on a sympathy vote. This was not only as contemptible as anything we have got used to expecting from the pan-blues but it was also amazingly stupid. As the pan-blues, those masters of political deception, know, if you want to create an incident you have a man waving a gun shooting into nowhere. You do not shoot your leader in the stomach.
The irony of yesterday's events is perhaps to show that the ultimate danger to Taiwan is not, pace Chen, China's 500 missiles. Rather it is the vicious political climate in which bitter antagonism has become the norm, with extremism, and extremist violence, the inevitable result.
It is not unjust to accuse one political faction of exacerbating this atmosphere more than another; it is simply a statement of fact. The pan-blues have never been able to accept losing the 2000 election and losing power; they have been deliberately obstructive toward measures necessary for the health of the country, for no other reason than that they refuse to work with the DPP. They have not merely criticized the DPP and government as any opposition worth its salt has to do, but they have become masters of the libelous slur, often sexual in nature, against which an inadequate legal system gives no protection.
What has been fostered in fact is a cult of irrational opposition. It is also a cult of desperate opposition. The pan-blues have not told their followers that if they lose this time they will have another try in four years. They have said that it is now or never; today's vote is the last chance. It is matter of life or death. It certainly was at 1:45 yesterday afternoon.
Elbridge Colby, America’s Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is the most influential voice on defense strategy in the Second Trump Administration. For insight into his thinking, one could do no better than read his thoughts on the defense of Taiwan which he gathered in a book he wrote in 2021. The Strategy of Denial, is his contemplation of China’s rising hegemony in Asia and on how to deter China from invading Taiwan. Allowing China to absorb Taiwan, he wrote, would open the entire Indo-Pacific region to Chinese preeminence and result in a power transition that would place America’s prosperity
A few weeks ago in Kaohsiung, tech mogul turned political pundit Robert Tsao (曹興誠) joined Western Washington University professor Chen Shih-fen (陳時奮) for a public forum in support of Taiwan’s recall campaign. Kaohsiung, already the most Taiwanese independence-minded city in Taiwan, was not in need of a recall. So Chen took a different approach: He made the case that unification with China would be too expensive to work. The argument was unusual. Most of the time, we hear that Taiwan should remain free out of respect for democracy and self-determination, but cost? That is not part of the usual script, and
All 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), formerly of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), survived recall elections against them on Saturday, in a massive loss to the unprecedented mass recall movement, as well as to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that backed it. The outcome has surprised many, as most analysts expected that at least a few legislators would be ousted. Over the past few months, dedicated and passionate civic groups gathered more than 1 million signatures to recall KMT lawmakers, an extraordinary achievement that many believed would be enough to remove at
Behind the gloating, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) must be letting out a big sigh of relief. Its powerful party machine saved the day, but it took that much effort just to survive a challenge mounted by a humble group of active citizens, and in areas where the KMT is historically strong. On the other hand, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must now realize how toxic a brand it has become to many voters. The campaigners’ amateurism is what made them feel valid and authentic, but when the DPP belatedly inserted itself into the campaign, it did more harm than good. The
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