The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) faithful would have been delighted that People First Party Chairman (PFP) James Soong (
The DPP faithful would also have been heartened by the Taiwan Solidarity Union pick, broadcaster Clara Chou (
But then the DPP let its faithful down with a bizarre display of its own: the party's deadline for candidate registration passing without valid applications -- a poor show, indeed.
Former DPP legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (
An unexpected, last-minute push by former Taipei County commissioner You Ching (
Hsieh's record as Kaohsiung mayor, while uneven, is not to be underestimated. The problem with Hsieh is that he is tainted by his unremarkable performance as premier and his administrative links to the corruption that spawned the Kaohsiung labor riot. Even more than this, he is tiring of the party that got him where he is. By hinting at taking a direction away from the DPP, he threatens to follow in the tradition of disaffected, egomaniacal party chairmen like Hsu Hsin-liang (
The only other notable feature of the race so far is that the pan-blue camp has been much more energetic in culling candidates. The first to go were the odious former KMT spokesman Alex Tsai (
Ma's preferred successor, former deputy Taipei mayor Yeh Chin-chuan (
Then there's former Environmental Protection Administration head Hau Lung-bin (
So who will be Taipei mayor? Based on this gaggle, it barely matters. Taipei's voters have demonstrated that ability and performance are of marginal interest to them, and the caliber of candidates reflects this. The best that can be expected, therefore, is that the winner will be someone barely better than ordinary.
In other words, another Ma Ying-jeou.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations