The jackals and hyenas are out once again. On Saturday, the pan-blue forces took to the streets to demand that President Chen Shui-bian (
Whether the rumors can be substantiated remains to be seen; in the past they have not. Certainly this is a matter the courts must examine. However, while we are waiting for any substantiated accusations to be brought forth let us get some perspective on the jackals and hyenas that are pursuing Chen.
A starting point is the stolen state assets that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) claimed as personal possessions because of its privileged one-party state rule over Taiwan for a half a century. These remain unreturned. Last year, after he was elected KMT chairman, Ma Ying-jeou (
Hsu Tsai-li (
In Taitung County, Wu Chun-li (
Since Wu could not appoint a spouse or relative as a stand-in, he promptly divorced his wife Kuang Li-chen (
As regards past instances of corruption, consider former KMT legislator Wu Tse-yuan (伍澤元) of Pingtung. After Wu was convicted of corruption, it turned out that former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) had loaned him US$1 million for election campaigns. Upon his conviction, several KMT legislators stood as guarantors for him so he could be released from prison prior to sentencing. He skipped bail, left the country and has not been seen since. The jackals and hyenas remain silent.
Return now to last Saturday's rally. What makes this particular rally of jackals and hyenas so blatantly hypocritical is its leader, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
Proof is still lacking in the current allegations against Chen. It is not the president who is accused, but those around him. If Chen is guilty, then certainly he should be made to answer. However, that he should give way to the jackals and hyenas that have never owned up to their own pasts is not a rational option.
Jerome Keating is a Taiwan-based writer.
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
RSS