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.
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
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