Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
First, Lien, without any evidence of voting fraud, denounced the election results and mobilized his supporters to protest in front of the presidential building. He even attempted (albeit unsuccessfully) to obtain permits for a two-month long demonstration in Taipei, a request that was denied by Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Second, Lien has continued to ally himself with the People First Party (PFP), even after the PFP engaged in a host of unashamedly undemocratic and uncivil actions in the wake of the election, ranging from razing police barricades and breaking into the Central Election Commission to -- perhaps most shockingly -- openly calling for violence against the Presidential Office, government offices and banks on its Web site. The Web content was later removed.
Third, Lien has refused to abide by the democratic process and timeframe for a ballot recount, demanding that Chen circumvent the Constitution and declare a national emergency to complete a total recount within 48 hours. When Chen agreed to a recount, Lien then retracted his demand for a complete recount, arguing instead (through his lawyer, on April 2) for a partial recount of only Chen's ballots.
Lien is willing to forsake three decades of democratic progress for the sake of his personal agenda, but the people have spoken otherwise. Even Lien's own party members are beginning to openly disagree with his actions.
I urge Lien to cease his demonstrations, denounce the violence and gracefully accept defeat. It is not only the proper results of the election that lie in the balance, but also the very future and prosperity of democracy in Taiwan.
Jack Chen
United States
What began on Feb. 28 as a military campaign against Iran quickly became the largest energy-supply disruption in modern times. Unlike the oil crises of the 1970s, which stemmed from producer-led embargoes, US President Donald Trump is the first leader in modern history to trigger a cascading global energy crisis through direct military action. In the process, Trump has also laid bare Taiwan’s strategic and economic fragilities, offering Beijing a real-time tutorial in how to exploit them. Repairing the damage to Persian Gulf oil and gas infrastructure could take years, suggesting that elevated energy prices are likely to persist. But the most
In late January, Taiwan’s first indigenous submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), completed its first submerged dive, reaching a depth of roughly 50m during trials in the waters off Kaohsiung. By March, it had managed a fifth dive, still well short of the deep-water and endurance tests required before the navy could accept the vessel. The original delivery deadline of November last year passed months ago. CSBC Corp, Taiwan, the lead contractor, now targets June and the Ministry of National Defense is levying daily penalties for every day the submarine remains unfinished. The Hai Kun was supposed to be
Most schoolchildren learn that the circumference of the Earth is about 40,000km. They do not learn that the global economy depends on just 160 of those kilometers. Blocking two narrow waterways — the Strait of Hormuz and the Taiwan Strait — could send the economy back in time, if not to the Stone Age that US President Donald Trump has been threatening to bomb Iran back to, then at least to the mid-20th century, before the Rolling Stones first hit the airwaves. Over the past month and a half, Iran has turned the Strait of Hormuz, which is about 39km wide at
There is a peculiar kind of political theater unfolding in East Asia — one that would be laughable if its consequences were not so dangerous. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) on April 12 returned from Beijing, where she met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and spoke earnestly about preserving “peace” and maintaining the “status quo.” It is a position that sounds responsible, even prudent. It is also a fiction. Taiwan is, by any honest definition, an independent country. It governs itself, defends itself, elects its leaders, and functions as a free and sovereign democracy. Independence is not a
RSS