During the second post-election meeting of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Central Standing Committee on Wednesday, KMT lawmaker Hung Yu-chin (
Hung's proposal was significant primarily because it officially opened discussions within the KMT about the future path and direction of the party. According to the localization faction, the KMT-People First Party (PFP) Alliance suffered a defeat in this past presidential election because it had drifted away from mainstream popular will -- which is becoming increasingly Taiwan-centric, along with the rapid evolution of a sense of Taiwanese national identity.
Actually, a better way to put it is that the pan-blue camp has failed to keep up with the changing popular will, as they continue to cling on to not only outdated ideologies, such as "there is one China, that being the Republic of China (ROC)," but a general sense of the "Greater China" consciousness.
Indeed, the assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) gave the KMT an excuse to run away from reality and to turn their back against the need to re-examine its path. As many have pointed out, the pan-blues should stop thinking about the number of votes they might have lost because of the shooting, and think about the number of votes they lost since the previous presidential election. The number of votes garnered by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) in this past election decreased by more than 1 million in comparison with the number of votes they garnered in 2000.
It is plain that the shooting could not have impacted that many votes, if it impacted any at all. But because the pan-blue alliance continues to be obsessed and preoccupied with the idea that "two bullets" overturned the entire election, they have refused to concede that something is wrong with their path and direction. If adjustments are not made, more voters will support the pan-greens and the KMT will no longer be able to play the role of a strong opposition, which can only be bad for both the party and the democratic development of Taiwan.
Currently, the KMT is at a crossroads. It can either shift toward the middle and adopt a more moderate path or embark on a more radical pro-China and pro-unification direction, led by the PFP and the New Party. The KMT's decision will more than likely result in a split within the party, which would not be the first of its kind that has resulted from similar internal struggles.
The two prior struggles, which took place when Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was the party's chairman, resulted in the departure of the pro-China factions, which first gave birth to New Party and then to the PFP.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that what Lien has in mind is obviously not just the future of the party but how to preserve his reign over it as well. If he listens to the localization faction, then there is the immediate pressure of a power succession within the party by the leader of the localization faction, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
If Lien goes the other route, lawmakers from the localization faction may leave and join with the pan-greens, giving them a legislative majority.
What will be Lien's decision?
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
RSS