Taiwanese politics is intriguing and fast-changing. Outsiders may not be surprised that the US government keeps pressuring President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to soft-pedal his move to "cease the function" of the National Unification Council and "cease the application" of the National Unification Guidelines. But they might be surprised by the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) embrace of independence as an option for Taiwanese people -- which it did in an advertisement in the Liberty Times.
The right to hold national referendums was long considered by the KMT as a political taboo and analogous to de jure independence. But on Sept. 23, 2004, the party seconded the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government's proposal to include the right to referendum in future constitutional reform. Now KMT members raise the idea of holding referendums to decide key government issues.
Now that the democratic value of "letting the people decide" has begun to take root in Taiwan, the gap between the pan-green and pan-blue camps on the independence-unification dichotomy will become increasingly meaningless. The notion that Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country will become the common ground in Taiwanese politics.
As a result, Taiwanese will be able to judge a national leader with more scrutiny.
As perhaps the most popular politician in Taiwan today, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) recent handling of the unification council and guidelines issue and his wavering stance on unification or independence reveals a lack of decisiveness and integrity.
Chen is judged by many as a politician who criss-crosses the political spectrum and pushes the envelope in cross-strait affairs. It is sad to see that Ma is incrementally adopting the A-bian model -- which is to think of running a country as like running a campaign.
Ma's unilateral decision to make independence an option for the KMT reflects a typical one-man decision, with little or no consultation even within his own party.
Former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) expressed his objection to such a proposal. Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who suggested accepting independence as an option for Taiwan during the KMT chairmanship election, also challenged Ma's one-man decision-making style.
From the perspective of Taiwan's democratic consolidation, for the KMT to respect the people's right to decide their own fate and future relationship with China is a great leap forward. However, whether Ma is sincere in respecting the people's right to freedom of choice remains in doubt.
To avoid being seen as tilting too much toward Beijing, Ma's camp has attempted to use the debate on Chen's proposal to abolish the unification council and guidelines to attract pro-independence voters.
As the most popular potential candidate for the pan-blue camp in the 2008 presidential race, Ma has no choice but to reveal his stance on cross-strait relations. Regretfully, Ma's recent remarks on Taiwan's "status quo" and its relations with China demonstrate a lack of recognition of the cross-strait reality, as well as disrespect for democratic principles.
To keep in step with public opinion, Ma chose to take the heat now, regardless of the pressure he might face from within his own party. People can be expected to back Ma for the next presidency if he continues with this approach.
But is Ma really doing all of this out of concern for the national interest? Can he counter the pro-unification forces from the pan-blue camp? Or is Ma an opportunist politician who only has his eyes on stealing votes from the DPP?
The voters will decide.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
Weeks into the craze, nobody quite knows what to make of the OpenClaw mania sweeping China, marked by viral photos of retirees lining up for installation events and users gathering in red claw hats. The queues and cosplay inspired by the “raising a lobster” trend make for irresistible China clickbait. However, the West is fixating on the least important part of the story. As a consumer craze, OpenClaw — the AI agent designed to do tasks on a user’s behalf — would likely burn out. Without some developer background, it is too glitchy and technically awkward for true mainstream adoption,
On Monday, a group of bipartisan US senators arrived in Taiwan to support the nation’s special defense bill to counter Chinese threats. At the same time, Beijing announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had invited Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to visit China, a move to make the KMT a pawn in its proxy warfare against Taiwan and the US. Since her inauguration as KMT chair last year, Cheng, widely seen as a pro-China figure, has made no secret of her desire to interact with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and meet with Xi, naming it a
A delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials led by Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is to travel to China tomorrow for a six-day visit to Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing, which might end with a meeting between Cheng and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The trip was announced by Xinhua news agency on Monday last week, which cited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) as saying that Cheng has repeatedly expressed willingness to visit China, and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Xi have extended an invitation. Although some people have been speculating about a potential Xi-Cheng
No state has ever formally recognized the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) as a legal entity. The reason is not a lack of legitimacy — the CTA is a functioning exile government with democratic elections and institutions — but the iron grip of realpolitik. To recognize the CTA would be to challenge the People’s Republic of China’s territorial claims, a step no government has been willing to take given Beijing’s economic leverage and geopolitical weight. Under international law, recognition of governments-in-exile has precedent — from the Polish government during World War II to Kuwait’s exile government in 1990 — but such recognition
RSS