Yesterday, the long-awaited first round of live televised debates between the two presidential candidates -- President Chen Shui-bian (
Before the debate, some commentators had said that in order to score in the debate Lien would need to leave behind his usual conservatism and go on the offensive for a change so as to attack the incumbent where it hurts. While Lien's efforts in this regard were evident, they simply weren't enough.
Even on the domestic issues that affect people's daily lives -- such as educational reform and economic growth, issues which are not only the focal points of Lien's campaign but were included among the debate topics at the insistence of the pan-blue camp -- Lien did not enjoy the upper hand. One obvious reason for this, and a fundamental problem for the pan-blue camp's campaign, is Lien's inability to offer solutions to problems once he has pointed out that they exist.
Another fatal flaw for Lien is that many of the problems he pointed out in the debate were as quickly pointed out by Chen to be attributable -- if not entirely, at least predominantly -- to government policies in the KMT era, including some policies decided on by the Executive Yuan when Lien was premier. One case in point was the Nine-Year Educational Program (
The fact that many urgently needed pieces of legislation remain buried in the Legislative Yuan, where the pan-blue camp enjoys an absolute majority, also crippled Lien in many respects. Cases in point are the political donations bill and the Judicial Yuan organization bill. Lien has been unable to offer persuasive explanations as to why these bills -- which he had supposedly endorsed and supported since the KMT era -- still await passage.
This is not to mention that Lien failed -- either intentionally or unintentionally -- to directly respond to Chen's request for a promise that the political donations bill be passed by the end of the month.
This is fatal considering that Chen has promised to place all of his personal assets in a trust if he is re-elected, so as to avoid future skepticism about illegal political donations and corruption.
On the issue of the KMT's ill-gotten assets, it was a major strategic error by Lien to defend his party on legal grounds, when the majority of the voters already believe that such assets were illegally gotten. What he should have done was to promise to return whatever rightfully belongs to the country and the people.
On the national referendum, Lien made the mistake of misquoting the relevant language of provisions of the Referendum Law (
Lien tried to take the offensive by asking Chen for evidence backing up allegations that Lien and his party are favored by China and manipulated by Beijing. While Chen's answers have been evasive, the problem for Lien, if this type of question continues being asked, is that Lien won't get any brownie points either, since the pan-blue camp has made so many unverifiable allegations against Chen and his family.
In any event, it is encouraging to see this debate finally take place. Now it is up to the voters to decide for themselves who speaks more convincingly and then make informed decisions about whom to vote for.
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
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
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.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, people have been asking if Taiwan is the next Ukraine. At a G7 meeting of national leaders in January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that Taiwan “could be the next Ukraine” if Chinese aggression is not checked. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that if Russia is not defeated, then “today, it’s Ukraine, tomorrow it can be Taiwan.” China does not like this rhetoric. Its diplomats ask people to stop saying “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” However, the rhetoric and stated ambition of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Taiwan shows strong parallels with