Amid what many see as dim prospects for change, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung
Both the timing and the changes made have been quite outside the premier's control. President Chen Shui-bian's
Chang had his own plans, based on the professional skills, performance, popularity ratings and coordination abilities of his Cabinet members. But the reshuffle list obviously has nothing to do with Chang's plan. It tells us nothing about the Cabinet's policy direction. Both Chen and Chang view the economy as crucial, but the premier has not been able to replace any of the economic and financial chiefs because the Presidential Office wouldn't approve such changes. Meanwhile, looking at the profile of the the new Cabinet members leaves us with no clearer idea of the government's policy direction.
If the reshuffle was meant to improve accountability, there is no sign of it. According to Chen, the most inefficient ministry was the transportation ministry. But Yen has retained her job, despite volunteering to go. Instead, EPA chief Lin Chun-yi
If the change was meant to improve consensus within the Cabinet, it will have exactly the opposite effect. Outgoing AEC Chairman Hsia Der-yu
Also, Hau's appointment will not promote harmony between political parties because the New Party will not change its policies just because Hau is now a Cabinet member. That opposition parties do not moderate their behavior when their own are drafted into the Cabinet was quite adequately demonstrated by the melancholy precedent of Tang Fei
The shuffle is perhaps best interpreted as a feeble attempt at crisis management. But this time the crisis is the lack of direction in the DPP government. Like a boat adrift at sea, Taiwan politics is moving beyond the control of the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan and the DPP. The boat's passengers can be thankful that they have only encountered small squalls so far. They can only pray that they are not hit with a real typhoon.
They did it again. For the whole world to see: an image of a Taiwan flag crushed by an industrial press, and the horrifying warning that “it’s closer than you think.” All with the seal of authenticity that only a reputable international media outlet can give. The Economist turned what looks like a pastiche of a poster for a grim horror movie into a truth everyone can digest, accept, and use to support exactly the opinion China wants you to have: It is over and done, Taiwan is doomed. Four years after inaccurately naming Taiwan the most dangerous place on
Wherever one looks, the United States is ceding ground to China. From foreign aid to foreign trade, and from reorganizations to organizational guidance, the Trump administration has embarked on a stunning effort to hobble itself in grappling with what his own secretary of state calls “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.” The problems start at the Department of State. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asserted that “it’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power” and that the world has returned to multipolarity, with “multi-great powers in different parts of the
President William Lai (賴清德) recently attended an event in Taipei marking the end of World War II in Europe, emphasizing in his speech: “Using force to invade another country is an unjust act and will ultimately fail.” In just a few words, he captured the core values of the postwar international order and reminded us again: History is not just for reflection, but serves as a warning for the present. From a broad historical perspective, his statement carries weight. For centuries, international relations operated under the law of the jungle — where the strong dominated and the weak were constrained. That
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.
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