In the wake of President Chen Shui-bian's
Despite the scheduled date, opinion among the party's heavyweights on whether there is a need to hold such a debate is divided.
While some argue that it is good and necessary to have an open debate on the party's line on China in order to forge a consensus, other party big guns such as Vice President Annette Lu
While holding a debate is laudable as it would allow other voices in the party to be heard, it is worth keeping in mind that action still speaks louder than words.
The party must not get bogged down in fruitless debate and end up talking the talk but failing to walk the walk, especially as the president has already clearly outlined the core values for the administration's China policy.
Add the fact that following Chen's New Year's Day address, in which he said the government would adopt a tougher stance toward China by promoting an "active management, effective opening" approach on cross-strait economic and trade exchanges, the new Cabinet under Premier Su Tseng-chang
It is all too predictable how the nation's pro-China media and the pan-blue camp would most likely take advantage of the DPP's debate to tout the value of investing in China and attempt to swing public opinion in this regard.
Both Chen's "active management, effective opening" policy and the proposal to scrap the NUC and the national unification guidelines are a wake-up call to direct the Taiwanese people's attention to the nation's growing trade imbalance with China and the importance of upholding the spirit of democracy in which the fate of Taiwan must be decided by its own people.
The National Unification Council was a government agency founded in 1990 by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime to promote Taiwan's eventual unification with China.
The government cannot violate the spirit of democracy by making unification with China the only option for its people. Taiwan's future should be determined by its 23 million people, whether the result be unification with China or an independent Taiwan.
The DPP must guard against the pan-blues' attempt to co-opt any debate on the party's China policy and let the government's policy be shaken again -- as the opposition had done many times during the past six years of Chen's presidency.
The government must live up to its pledge to secure Taiwan's national interests and not let Chen's "active management, effective opening" approach and other initiatives on China policy end up as empty political slogans.
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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