After Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (
Their sycophancy has opened the eyes of the Taiwanese people to the ugliness of Lien and Soong's characters, but also to the feudal style of China's government in acquiring vassals. None of this is compatible with modern democracy.
Now that Lien and Soong have returned, it is time to assess the results of their betrayal of Taiwan's interests. First and foremost, as chairmen of opposition parties, their ability to sell out Taiwan's sovereignty is limited.
China might seem to have won some slight advantage at the level of political rhetoric, using Lien and Soong as part of their "united front" strategy to give credibility to the "one China" fantasy. But even if Lien and Soong proclaim China's greatness like loyal retainers, they cannot frighten Taiwan.
The cross-strait question has two aspects.
The first is the political aspect, which at its heart is about sovereignty.
The second is the actual situation and what can be done about it.
On the political front, Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Lien knew what he was in for, and tossed the whole idea of the Republic of China into the Taiwan Strait before he even arrived. Soong wanted to be tough, but in the end -- under pressure from various fronts -- he also swallowed his words.
Hu was tough, and Lien and Soong came out looking weak. But then, those who capitulate cannot dictate terms, and must simply wait on those to whom they have capitulated.
When Hu insisted that the basis of the cross-strait issue would be based on the "1992 consensus," neither Lien nor Soong dared to say anything. Lien's "news release" spoke of the "1992 consensus" and Soong's statement mentioned the "two sides of the strait, one China" idea, but these are just footnotes to Hu's statement.
As the issue of sovereignty has already been decided by Hu, any point in Lien's five-point communique or Soong's six-point agreement, which disagrees with Hu's statement, will necessarily be overruled.
As for the practical aspects of the situation, only the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration, which is invested with public power, can achieve anything.
Hu is clearly delighted that Lien and Soong have tried to sell out Taiwan. But apart from selling themselves, what else can Lien and Soong do?
Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Ian Bartholomew
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US