It's enough to make you bang your head against a wall.
When President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen might find that there is political capital to be had out of appearing to be a sensitive new-age politician who wants everyone to talk, be friendly and reconcile only to have these overtures rejected time and again. But it is increasingly obvious that Ma, who has embraced his undistinguished predecessor's penchant for treating Chen like a door-to-door salesman, thinks he might be onto something when he looks down his nose at the diminutive president.
When he attempted to start a dialogue with former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
Chen's supporters might do well to ask themselves if he hasn't run out of ideas on how to deal with a re-energized opposition that just won't play ball. In the face of this rigidity, the almost daily, autistic rhetoric of "reconciliation" involving the "23 million people of Taiwan" damages the cause it attempts to champion.
In an ideal world, of course, Ma would adopt the same goodwill toward the executive that he has curiously adopted toward the nation's gay and lesbian community -- all the more laudable because of its defiance of the grisly conservatism of his KMT mentors on such matters, and the fact that the DPP has been tardy in stamping out institutional bigotry. But this is not an ideal world. Ma is playing a clever game, letting the DPP talk itself into corners and watching quietly in the wings when not making low-key commentary.
Chen must recognize that appealing for reconciliation with the pan-blue camp -- as distinct from reconciliation between ordinary people of different ethnic backgrounds -- is pointless because the rump of the KMT and PFP machines feel that there is nothing to reconcile over, let alone apologize for.
Though it may frustrate those who seek to employ ethno-nationalism to protect Taiwan from Chinese aggression, ethnic conflict has run out of currency as a political mobilizer, except among a few anachronistic brigands of "Greater China" nationalists and a small number of unelectable fringe independence advocates.
The greatest victim of the exaggeration of the role of ethnic conflict in this country is a president who is sincere in wanting to heal the wounds of the past. But by using anodyne slogans of reconciliation to court professional obstructionists, and thus belaboring an electorate that has already come to terms with the KMT's oppressive past, Chen fails to exploit the fact that ethnic conflict is now almost entirely restricted to the Grand Guignol of party politics.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
RSS