Five days after being sworn in, the new Cabinet received a "shock education" from KMT legislators -- a bitter pill for the new ministers to swallow. Seeing their "performance" making the headlines the next day, quite a few KMT legislators were patting themselves on their backs with satisfaction. All the self-confidence lost from the election defeat has been regained.
Had the legislators been this brave during the Chiang (
Many legislators rely on TV call-in programs to make themselves into stars. And, of course, they also live off their lips at the Legislative Yuan. They know very well how to torment government officials, as they do not have to come up with solutions themselves. It is especially easy to tackle the new DPP government officials, most of whom have little or no experience in governance.
Guess how they tackled the new ministers? One lawmaker, being unable to come up with an opinion of his own on national defense, targeted the vice defense minister, Chen Pi-chao (
The new education minister Ovid Tseng (
In fact, everyone knows about the excesses the lawmakers have been embarking on, as well as their conflicts of interest. Unwilling to do any soul-searching themselves, the lawmakers turned their guns on an intellectual-turned-minister. This only deepened the legislature's repellant public image.
The new government is already in place and will soon embark on political reforms. But the biggest obstacle to reform comes from the legislature. Some people talk about reforming the Executive Yuan, but no one seems to be talking about reforming the legislature. Now that the National Assembly has been marginalized, the legislature has the power to approve personnel appointments to the Control and Examination Yuans, in addition to budgeting, investigative and legislative powers. Unfortunately, the expansion of the legislature's power has not been accompanied by a rise in the quality of legislator. Today it is a dirt-stained horse-trading ground infested with factionalism.
Logically, the executive and legislative branches should check and balance each other. But an Executive Yuan with a team of newcomers has given KMT lawmakers a perfect chance to take revenge for their election defeat. That was the main drive behind the recent farce. Perhaps "tame" would better describe the lawmakers' act than "check and balance."
Such successful "taming" of Cabinet officials will not result in greater support ratings. Rather, it will only make the "black gold" elements in the legislature even more audacious. In the end, the people will suffer for it.
Authoritarianism -- whether at the Executive Yuan or the legislature -- is incompatible with democracy. If the legislature continues to abuse their powers, Taiwan's voters should perhaps think about ways to monitor the legislature. Political reform means reforming both the executive and legislative branches. No political reform can be successful if only one of them is reformed.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
As Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won by a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, it is a good time to take another look at recent developments in the Maldivian foreign policy. While Muizzu has been promoting his “Maldives First” policy, the agenda seems to have lost sight of a number of factors. Contemporary Maldivian policy serves as a stark illustration of how a blend of missteps in public posturing, populist agendas and inattentive leadership can lead to diplomatic setbacks and damage a country’s long-term foreign policy priorities. Over the past few months, Maldivian foreign policy has entangled itself in playing
A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers led by the party’s legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (?) are to visit Beijing for four days this week, but some have questioned the timing and purpose of the visit, which demonstrates the KMT caucus’ increasing arrogance. Fu on Wednesday last week confirmed that following an invitation by Beijing, he would lead a group of lawmakers to China from Thursday to Sunday to discuss tourism and agricultural exports, but he refused to say whether they would meet with Chinese officials. That the visit is taking place during the legislative session and in the aftermath