There is increasing speculation over a Cabinet reshuffle following the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) defeat in the Dec. 3 local government elections. The most intriguing part of this process will be the choice to lead the revamped executive. On Sunday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Wang said Chen had considered him for the post, but that he had instead recommended that the post be offered to Ma. Wang added that he had not informed Ma of Chen's offer. Meanwhile, the Presidential Office issued a press release rebutting Ma's statement.
With all of this going on, it's hard to believe either side. And whatever the truth of the matter, this situation must be a source of considerable embarrassment for Premier Frank Hsieh (
No matter how the DPP overhauls the Cabinet, the public's focus should be clean government.
According to the 2005 Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International, Taiwan ranks 32nd out of 159 countries and regions. The result is about the same as its ranking of 35 last year and 30 the year before. However, the judicial branch of government has, for the first time, been declared to be suffering from corruption. This development is unacceptable.
Chen must examine his conscience and ask himself if he has only been thinking about his place in history and aiming too high by promoting long-term constitutional reform and cross-strait peace, while neglecting matters that are closer to the daily lives of ordinary people, such as law and order, judicial reform, corruption and the economy. He must listen to the public and build the clean and competent government that the public demands.
We have recently heard much in the media of Ma's support for the majority party forming the Cabinet. In this case, he must first rein in the 14 pan-blue county commissioners and city mayors in order to prevent the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) from straying toward its traditional comfort zone of systemic corruption.
In the upcoming elections for speakers of county and city councils, Ma should ensure that there is no repetition of the ugly rumors of rampant vote-buying that swirled around the Dec. 12, 2002, Kaohsiung City Council race.
Since Ma is interested in forming a Cabinet and is likely to be the pan-blue camp's candidate for president in 2008, it is possible that the pan-green camp's defeat in local government elections will spur the two camps into a competition promoting cleaner government and administrative excellence. Certainly this would be much more beneficial than the feuding and boycotts that have done so much to hold back the nation's progress and damage its international reputation.
If the two political camps are willing to turn over a new leaf and initiate a period of positive competition in which debate replaces personal attacks -- and in which charisma and competence replace money as a magnet for votes -- a superior political environment would be the outcome.
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,
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