Once again, the pan-blue dominated Procedure Committee blocked the arms procurement bill from being placed on the legislative agenda.
At the meeting Tuesday in advance of the new legislative session starting next week, the committee also stonewalled on the confirmation of President Chen Shui-bian's (
This replay of the same stale scene at the Procedure Committee leads one to wonder whether the opposition will ever realize what it means to be the "loyal opposition," and whether it can prioritize the national interest.
A glance at the US Senate's recent response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster puts Taiwan's opposition to shame. The Senate last Thursday night convened an emergency session to approve an US$10.5 billion emergency budget request from the Bush administration for relief for victims of the disaster. The emergency money was unanimously approved.
In comparison, the pan-blue camp consisting of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) having continuously blocked policy initiatives launched by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government regardless of their urgency. They seem to enjoy their slim majority in the 225-seat legislature and use it to serve their party interests rather than serving the public, whose votes sent them to the Legislature Yuan in the first place.
In the face of China's rise, especially its military expansion, Taiwan must beef up its self-defense capabilities.
Yet, due to the opposition from the pan-blue camp, the budget for arms procurement has been blocked for two consecutive legislative sessions, on 26 separate occasions, according to President Chen.
In a goodwill gesture to the opposition parties, the government has adjusted the arms bill by funding the Patriot anti-missile batteries from the regular budget instead of from the special budget, as originally proposed.
But the opposition continues to be hogtied by political gamesmanship, and lets party interests push it as far as to sabotage Taiwan's national defense in the face of Beijing's growing military threats.
KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
After their meeting yesterday at KMT headquarters in Taipei, Ma and PFP Chairman James Soong (
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
RSS