Yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen's willingness to overturn the election results, while painful, is a display of broadmindedness. If the pan-blue camp accepts his proposal, a second reading of the amendment could be passed next Tuesday. The amended law could then be promulgated by Chen on Wednesday, allowing the recount to go ahead on Thursday.
Unbelievably, the pan-blue camp not only refused to accept the proposal, it accused the pan-green camp of procrastination. Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Understandably, this demand angered the pan-green camp. Following a meeting of the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Central Committee on Tuesday, DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (
Cabinet Spokesperson Lin Chia-lung (
The Ketagalan Boulevard protest mobilized by the Lien-Soong alliance is a matter of local, not national, unrest. It is also losing legitimacy as the DPP calls upon its supporters to treat it as an ordinary demonstration and Chen expresses his goodwill toward his opponents. Without further provocation, the crowd will eventually calm down.
Declaring a state of emergency is similar to martial-law rule, a situation the KMT is very familiar with, given it ruled Taiwan for decades under such a law. There is reason to believe that Lien and Soong intend to return the country to the martial-law period by seeking to incite the pan-blue demonstrators and escalate their protests against the government.
In a state of emergency, county commissioners and city mayors have the power to suppress or disperse crowds. In view of the post-election efforts to intensify ethnic divisions, if local leaders were to order the police to take tough measures to dispel crowds, the level of anger and strife would certainly intensify. The majority of the mayors and commissioners are pan-blue members. If pan-blue supporters continue their protests, no one could guarantee that pan-green supporters will not eventually be provoked into a counter-attack. If local governments then ordered a crackdown, the DPP would fall into the trap set by the pan-blue camp.
As long as the confrontation does not subside, Lien and Soong can avoid taking responsibility for their election defeat and avoid internal criticism. Their plan to use the demonstrations to secure power is apparent in the conclusion reached at yesterday's KMT Central Standing Committee meeting. A party chairman who lost two elections would normally step down to allow a new leadership to carry out party reform. But yesterday the committee passed a resolution confirming Lien's leadership. One could almost admire the survivor instinct that has not only enabled Lien to remain at the helm of the KMT but has even seen his power consolidated.
One could admire it, if not for the realization that both Lien and Soong appear willing to sacrifice this nation's stability and international image for the sake of their own vanity and political ambitions.
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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