After a number of scandals involving politician's exotic sex lives, a plain old case of bribery seems prosaic. But the alleged collective acceptance of bribes by members of the fourth Legislative Yuan just days before it becomes history is actually the most shocking and certainly the most dangerous. DPP legislators Yeh Yi-jin (
The claims revolve around an amendment under review to the Electronic Game Regulation Law (
Being a whistleblower is not easy and these lawmakers deserve our approbation. They face factional pressure and personal attacks, but they have still stepped up to expose the illegal conduct of their colleagues. Their actions show a moral courage that we were beginning to think was wholly absent from what is probably one of the most venal lawmaking bodies in history.
As everyone knows, many elected representatives and officials at all levels are deeply involved with business conglomerates and the mafia. This is one of the reasons Taiwan is often criticized for its so-called "black-gold politics." The change of ruling party has not in and of itself been sufficient to make this corruption disappear. Exposing corruption is only the start of the process to eradicate it. What it needs is the application of both determination and resources on the government's part.
Previously, during the uproar over the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, allegations of accepting bribes have been hurled at a number of lawmakers and government officials. Investigating this alleged corruption, which took place several years ago under the notoriously corrupt KMT regime, is perhaps now impossible. But getting to the bottom of this latest bribery scandal should be well within the capacities of the Ministry of Justice. Effort and determination are needed to show that the day when large-scale bribery could escape criminal investigation and prosecution are past. The crony capitalist corruption that bloomed under the KMT has weakened Taiwan both economically and politically. It is time to show that it can be stamped out. Both those offering and those taking bribes need to be investigated, exposed and prosecuted with the utmost rigor and punished to the limit the law allows.
Voters will of course become even more aware of the need for reform of Taiwan's political system. Everyone realizes the difficulties of legislative reform. However, this is a necessary step for deepening Taiwan's democracy. Only through large-scale restructuring of Taiwan's lawmaking body can the professionalism, good faith, and moral character of legislators replace black-gold politics and salvage the rock-bottom image of Taiwan's representative institutions. Hopefully the collapse of the large majority held in the legislature by the opposition alliance -- which has worked hard to block measures that would make Taiwan's political system less corrupt (readers can guess why) -- in the Dec. 1 elections means that genuine reform might now be possible and the corrupt purged from Taiwan's political life.
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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