It's about time that the pan-blue camp realized what damage it is doing to Taiwan and put an end to its ridiculous efforts to recall the president.
Its attempts to spark a Philippines-style "people power" movement and oust the president have so far failed miserably, with only diehard pan-blue fans answering the call to take to the streets.
Maybe this has something to do with the fact that the Taiwanese electorate was not surprised to find out that some politicians, their aides and relatives may have been abusing their positions to fill their own pockets. If they were concerned about such things then why would the people of Taitung and Taichung counties regularly elect people like Wu Chun-li (
Or could it be the fact that People First Party Chairman James Soong (
It is patently obvious to anyone with an iota of political knowledge that the real reason for Soong's leading role is because he is trying to rescue his flagging career and bolster his popularity for a crack at the Taipei mayorship. Since Ma Ying-jeou (
Of course the president's inner circle and his family should be punished if they are found guilty of corruption. But they should not be subject to "trial by TVBS" or any other kind of PFP or KMT-led kangaroo court. The nation's investigators should be allowed the time and space they need to get on with their job.
We have already seen what a one-sided legislative probe can produce with the 319 shooting special truth investigation committee: a lot of hot air, speculation and absolutely no concrete proof.
But the saddest thing about this whole recall affair is that it has cruelly exposed Ma's weak position. Many fence-sitting Taiwanese must have had high hopes for Ma and the KMT after he swept to the chairmanship last year on promises of clean politics and party reform.
And many of them may have believed that he had miraculously transformed the KMT from a super-rich party of vote-buyers and career carpetbaggers into an ultra-clean party of paupers.
When plans for a recall bid first appeared, Ma was the voice of reason, in contrast to other pan-blue figures screaming for the head of Chen Shui-bian (
By letting himself be press-ganged into supporting the recall bid, Ma has shown that the same deep-blue elements that cannot stand to see Taiwan ruled by a pro-localization regime still hold the KMT's reins of power. It has become increasingly clear that they will stop at nothing in their bid to oust the president, even if it means creating more division in Taiwan's already deeply-split society.
The high threshold required to recall the president means that their bid has been doomed from the start, and the pan-blue camp is well aware of this. They have only further demonstrated to the general public what a bitter, hateful bunch they really are.
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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