At the risk of being sued by some legislative candidates, the Taipei Society on Tuesday released an evaluation of the performance of the 225 members of the fifth Legislative Yuan in the fourth and fifth terms. Forty-three lawmakers failed the evaluation and 59 are on the probation list. The legislators' poor performance is not unexpected.
Among the four major parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) ranked lowest, followed by the People First Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union. The performance of the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) lawmakers was rated highest.
Ever since the KMT government relocated to Taiwan from China, our representative bodies have been controlled by "old thieves" or "corrupt courtiers." The "old thieves" included National Assembly members from China who enjoyed a lifetime membership under the KMT's rule. But after former president Lee Teng-hui (
The "old thieves" performed their duties under authoritarian rule while news was censored. Nobody looked into their misconduct, because the media were unable to monitor them. The media were no more than tools of the KMT's authoritarian rule -- rubber stamps to legitimize the party's will. But with the advent of freedom of the press, lawmakers' actions are exposed for public scrutiny. Unfortunately, the quality of their performance has failed to improve. An example is the vulgar language of the foul-mouthed KMT Legislator Yu Yueh-hsia (
Many unsuitable people can still get elected. Does the problem stem from the overall quality of voters? If not, how can these vile legislative candidates still attract votes? The crux of the problem is political parties' degenerate performance. For example, Taipei Society researcher Chang Kuei-mao (
This is the intrinsic problem with the KMT, which relies on an election machine fueled by vote-buying. Its intricate electioneering network operates through regional and clan organizations, which ensures that at least some of its legislators are guaranteed a seat in the legislature. The growth of public understanding is a long process. It is not that the public is ignorant, but simply that voters have to be informed. Fortunately there are a number of social justice groups who are willing to perform this role, setting up monitoring facilities and offering a direction for voters to follow. On Monday, the Taipei Society announced that it had sent questionnaires about six major political issues to 38 legislative candidates, but that only 12 were returned, the majority from DPP candidates. The society said that this cast doubt on the suitability of many legislators to be involved in the political process.
It is fortunate that, in the run-up to the elections, groups such as the Taipei Society and the Northern Taiwan Society have shown their social conscience in releasing such reports. We hope that the people of Taiwan will use their vote to voice their anger at the long-term degeneracy of legislators and direct the country toward the election of upright and capable lawmakers.
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,
RSS