President Chen Shui-bian's (
The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) recent ad in the Liberty Times, the Taipei Times' sister paper, declared that the public have the option to choose independence for Taiwan, unification with China or to maintain the status quo. Although KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Similarly, when Chen declared that the NUC and the national unification guidelines will cease to function, he also eliminated a preconceived idea, determined for the public by the previous KMT government. This is a manifestation of the democratic spirit. The change is only a recognition of possibilities that may lead to changes in the future -- there is no need for the international community to fret over the matter.
There is certainly a degree of conflict between Chen's announcement that the NUC and the guidelines will cease to function and the "four noes" he outlined in his inauguration speeches in 2000 and 2004, and that hurts his credibility. In both speeches, however, Chen stressed that his promise was made on the condition that China renounce the use of force against Taiwan -- a fact that has often been ignored. As China aims an increasing number of missiles at Taiwan, the premise on which the "four noes" were predicated has ceased to exist. Still, the US and the international community continue to ignore China's ongoing changes to the "status quo," preferring instead to place Taiwan's actions under the microscope. This is entirely unreasonable.
Beijing has frequently criticized Chen's intentions to abolish the NUC and the guidelines, despite doing nothing to achieve the goals they outline: cross-strait exchanges and, eventually, direct links. Instead, Beijing works constantly to isolate Taiwan in the international community, repeatedly blocks its bids to enter the World Health Organization and has passed the "Anti-Secession" Law. These actions cause only resentment in Taiwan -- China has done nothing to bring the two sides closer together. When the Taiwanese government was willing to discuss cross-strait flights and tourism, Beijing refused to negotiate.
In truth, China has never cared about the guidelines, for it wants only unconditional surrender. Taiwan, however, refuses to surrender and has now rejected the unification guidelines, causing China to lose face -- the real source of Beijing's displeasure.
By announcing that the NUC and the guidelines will "cease to function," rather than be "abolished," Chen has tried to achieve a political compromise. The president has moved in the right direction, but the timing is unfortunate. The right time to make the announcement would have been during his 2000 inauguration.
Elbridge Colby, America’s Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is the most influential voice on defense strategy in the Second Trump Administration. For insight into his thinking, one could do no better than read his thoughts on the defense of Taiwan which he gathered in a book he wrote in 2021. The Strategy of Denial, is his contemplation of China’s rising hegemony in Asia and on how to deter China from invading Taiwan. Allowing China to absorb Taiwan, he wrote, would open the entire Indo-Pacific region to Chinese preeminence and result in a power transition that would place America’s prosperity
A few weeks ago in Kaohsiung, tech mogul turned political pundit Robert Tsao (曹興誠) joined Western Washington University professor Chen Shih-fen (陳時奮) for a public forum in support of Taiwan’s recall campaign. Kaohsiung, already the most Taiwanese independence-minded city in Taiwan, was not in need of a recall. So Chen took a different approach: He made the case that unification with China would be too expensive to work. The argument was unusual. Most of the time, we hear that Taiwan should remain free out of respect for democracy and self-determination, but cost? That is not part of the usual script, and
All 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), formerly of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), survived recall elections against them on Saturday, in a massive loss to the unprecedented mass recall movement, as well as to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that backed it. The outcome has surprised many, as most analysts expected that at least a few legislators would be ousted. Over the past few months, dedicated and passionate civic groups gathered more than 1 million signatures to recall KMT lawmakers, an extraordinary achievement that many believed would be enough to remove at
Behind the gloating, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) must be letting out a big sigh of relief. Its powerful party machine saved the day, but it took that much effort just to survive a challenge mounted by a humble group of active citizens, and in areas where the KMT is historically strong. On the other hand, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must now realize how toxic a brand it has become to many voters. The campaigners’ amateurism is what made them feel valid and authentic, but when the DPP belatedly inserted itself into the campaign, it did more harm than good. The
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