Being in Hong Kong, I can view KMT Chairman Lien Chan's upcoming trip to China with detachment, so I am amused by the controversy surrounding the trip.
Since Lien is neither a government official nor a legislator, he can only represent his party.
To pretend to speak for the government or the Taiwanese people will only reinforce the perception that he and his party still ignore the fact that they have lost two presidential elections, yet believe that they rule Taiwan.
Negotiating with Lien other than as KMT chairman would prove that Beijing is stuck in a time warp, is yet to come to terms with Taiwan's democratic changes and is still peddling the fiction that Taiwan is ruled by refugees of the civil war.
What can Lien discuss with his counterpart in the Chinese Communist Party? The only issue that remains open is the the civil war. The world has long accepted the CCP's victory in the civil war, but the KMT seems unable to grasp this reality.
Because the KMT has never formally admitted defeat, Beijing has been denied the closure it needs in this historical chapter.
So, Lien should use the opportunity to admit that his party lost.
Removing this old obstacle will permit both sides of the Strait to move ahead.
This will be the greatest contribution Lien can make and will help establish the legacy he seeks.
Instead of condemning a "so-called journey of peace," the ruling party should urge Lien to make the trip a true journey of peace.
Kenneth Choy
Hong Kong
Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on April 9 said that the first group of Indian workers could arrive as early as this year as part of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India and the India Taipei Association. Signed in February 2024, the MOU stipulates that Taipei would decide the number of migrant workers and which industries would employ them, while New Delhi would manage recruitment and training. Employment would be governed by the laws of both countries. Months after its signing, the two sides agreed that 1,000 migrant workers from India would
In recent weeks, Taiwan has witnessed a surge of public anxiety over the possible introduction of Indian migrant workers. What began as a policy signal from the Ministry of Labor quickly escalated into a broader controversy. Petitions gathered thousands of signatures within days, political figures issued strong warnings, and social media became saturated with concerns about public safety and social stability. At first glance, this appears to be a straightforward policy question: Should Taiwan introduce Indian migrant workers or not? However, this framing is misleading. The current debate is not fundamentally about India. It is about Taiwan’s labor system, its
On March 31, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs released declassified diplomatic records from 1995 that drew wide domestic media attention. One revelation stood out: North Korea had once raised the possibility of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. In a meeting with visiting Chinese officials in May 1995, as then-Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) prepared for a visit to South Korea, North Korean officials objected to Beijing’s growing ties with Seoul and raised Taiwan directly. According to the newly released records, North Korean officials asked why Pyongyang should refrain from developing relations with Taiwan while China and South Korea were expanding high-level
Japan’s imminent easing of arms export rules has sparked strong interest from Warsaw to Manila, Reuters reporting found, as US President Donald Trump wavers on security commitments to allies, and the wars in Iran and Ukraine strain US weapons supplies. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ruling party approved the changes this week as she tries to invigorate the pacifist country’s military industrial base. Her government would formally adopt the new rules as soon as this month, three Japanese government officials told Reuters. Despite largely isolating itself from global arms markets since World War II, Japan spends enough on its own
RSS