After the final days of an intense campaign, both the pan-green and pan-blue alliances will hold their jumping nerves to await the results of the third presidential election and the first nationwide referendum today.
I support the re-election of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). I believe the continuation of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government will further the nation's democratic progress, help the people pursue their sovereign rights and promise Taiwan a dignified future.
In contrast to the pan-blue camp, which has absolutely no vision for Taiwan's future, the DPP has a clear blueprint and timetable to bring an end to Taiwan's sham Constitution (which was drafted in Nanjing in 1946 and does not include Taiwan in its 35 provinces), offensive flag (with a Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] symbol on top, symbolizing the party's control of the country) and an oblivious national anthem. These efforts will bring back the truth of Taiwan, and demand that the world take note of the reality of Taiwan.
Contrary to most people's prediction that if Chen wins it will increase instability in the Taiwan Strait, I believe that his re-election will bring to a halt and eventually terminate Beijing's decades of delusion and efforts to annex Taiwan.
It will highlight the people's heartfelt desire for sovereign rights and decision to determine their own fate and future. It will show the world the inevitability of the establishment of an independent Taiwan. It will force dictators in Beijing to face reality and thus adopt realistic policies toward Taiwan.
History has proved time and again that it is not facing reality, but indulging in illusions that bring disastrous situations to national and international affairs. Now, the unification of China and Taiwan is only an illusion for Beijing and the pan-blue camp, for it is impossible now and in the future. It is obvious that even after China becomes a democratic country, the people of Taiwan -- who have enjoyed democracy and prosperity for years -- would accept becoming a province of China.
The pan-blue's policy of not touching the sovereignty issue would only invite Beijing to increase its efforts to impose the "one country, two systems" policy, which is absolutely not acceptable to the people.
After the KMT's 50-year rule, the Chen administration's mere four years in power is not enough to replace the hefty bureaucracy of the old system. We need to give the DPP more time to inject fresh blood into a new democratic system. Unlike the charade of KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), who joined forces only to gain power and would soon begin a power struggle if they win the election, Chen's administration has proven its unity in its efforts to bring hope and dignity to Taiwan.
Chen's re-election will also help maintain peace and stability in East Asia. Many Asian countries have already begun to fear an economically strong and totalitarian China's influence in the region.
If the pro-China pan-blue alliance, which has been kowtowing to Beijing throughout the election, wins, it will be a step back not only for Taiwan's democracy, but also for Asian people as a whole. It will be especially damaging for the people of Hong Kong, who are fighting for direct elections of their own governor. Chen's re-election will also show the world that Taiwan is a sovereign country.
I hope people will vote for Chen, and vote for a green spring in Taiwan.
Cao Chang-ching is a writer and journalist based in New York.
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) trip to China provides a pertinent reminder of why Taiwanese protested so vociferously against attempts to force through the cross-strait service trade agreement in 2014 and why, since Ma’s presidential election win in 2012, they have not voted in another Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate. While the nation narrowly avoided tragedy — the treaty would have put Taiwan on the path toward the demobilization of its democracy, which Courtney Donovan Smith wrote about in the Taipei Times in “With the Sunflower movement Taiwan dodged a bullet” — Ma’s political swansong in China, which included fawning dithyrambs