Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
In the month following the election, the pan-blue camp mobilized the masses to protest in front of the Presidential Office as part of their attempts at a revolution. They were exploiting the power of the people in their quest to overturn the government of President Chen Shui-bian (
This weekend Chen revealed a hitherto unknown fact, namely that after the election a retired general had asked high-ranking military leaders to exert pressure on the president either by having themselves admitted to hospital on false pretenses, or by tendering their resignations. The abortive seven-day coup was not an attempted military coup, but was intended as a "soft coup." Fortunately, the depoliticization of Taiwan's armed forces has already occurred with a considerable degree of success, and the "soft coup" failed.
The failure of the quasi-revolution brings us mixed feelings of anxiety and happiness. The anxiety is because certain elements in the KMT are willing to resort to any expedient to gain power, even to the extent of tainting the politically neutral military by encouraging senior officers to express their political views.
This violates Article 138 of the Constitution, which states that military personnel "shall be above personal, regional and party affiliation." At the same time, the blue camp has also violated Article 139 of the Constitution, which states that "no political party ... shall make use of the armed forces as an instrument in the struggle of political powers."
The blue camp does not respect the outcome of a democratic election, and refuses to trust the process of judicial arbitration; instead, it puts its faith in Machiavellian intrigue, which the blues believe is all that works. We are happy to see that the light of democracy in Taiwan has not been consumed by the darkness of political reactionism.
We can be happy that Taiwan's military has finally cast off its role as an army loyal only to the KMT, and has become an army loyal to the Republic of China, its Constitution and its people.
The army of the Republic of China was founded by Chiang Kai-shek (
During the process of Taiwan's democratization, the identification of the military as Chiang's army, which was the KMT's army, was questioned and subsequently challenged. With the passage of the Defense Ministry Organizational Law (
The last two presidential elections have been a severe test of Taiwan's democracy. The people of Taiwan have passed the test. Taiwan's military maintained its principles despite temptation. Taiwan's judiciary is still being tested, but it seems that only the blue camp's ability to grasp the concepts of democratization and rule of law has been marked by failure.
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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