On Friday, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (
In another lawsuit filed by Lien and Soong against President Chen Shui-bian (
These two lawsuits, the one against Chen and Lu and the one against the commission, were the first of their kind. Equally unprecedented was the amount of social resources diverted into these lawsuits, not to mention the level of social unrest and disturbance surrounding them. For example, the enormous cost incurred in conducting a total recount of the ballots cast in the election, a total of NT$60.10 million (US$1.8 million), was paid by the Taiwan High Court -- except for the NT$17.22 million paid by Lien and Soong -- meaning that the taxpayers picked up the tab.
Of course, Taiwan is a democratic country subject to the rule of law, so Lien and Soong had every legal right to file their lawsuits. On the other hand, these two men are not ordinary citizens; they are political leaders in whom the people have entrusted important powers. In this regard, they need to be politically accountable for every action they take -- including filing such unprecedented legal actions against the head of state and the CEC.
Unfortunately, both men have repaid the trust of the voters with utterly irresponsible behavior. The lawsuits were brought because these two leftovers from the days of martial law have a sense of entitlement. They simply could not believe -- or accept -- that it was possible to lose last year's election. In truth, they still haven't gotten over their individual losses in the 2000 presidential election.
Not one shred of credible evidence turned up in support of the government "conspiracies" or "cover-ups" they alleged about last year's election and the the election-eve assassination attempt on Chen and Lu -- now known to have been carried out by a Lien-Soong supporter -- while the alleged large-scale tampering with the ballots by the government turned out to be isolated, minor clerical and administrative errors by individuals.
Without an inkling of semi-credible proof supporting their allegations, how could they have decided to file these lawsuits? How could they destroy the sense of legitimacy in the entire constitutional process in the eyes of their supporters simply because the system failed to give the result they wanted? Their actions were irresponsible. In some countries such actions would have been seen criminal -- seditious libel. And all to prolong political careers which should have been over the day they lost last year's election.
Lien's career is over anyway, now that he has reluctantly stepped down as KMT chairman. As for Soong, his political influence has rapidly declined to the point that it could hardly be damaged any more.
The feud between Chen, Lien and Soong that started with the 2000 presidential election has finally come to an end. However, those hoping that inter-party hostility and obstructionism could be replaced by cooperation remain disappointed. Under the new leadership of KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under