Lee Chia-tung (
Although Lee believes that Chen should step down, he also provided examples of past experiences in other countries to show that in the absence of legitimate procedures, forcing a president out of office will only lead to national instability.
I think those who support Shih's "one million people to depose President Chen Shui-bian" campaign should seriously consider the consequences of their emotionally wrought move and what price they are willing to pay for their cause.
In 1979, the Kaohsiung Incident was sparked by a democracy movement initiated by dangwai (黨外) political activists striving to lift the ban on political parties, advocating new legislative elections and pushing for direct local elections.
On May 20, 1988, a movement staged by farmers demanded that the government deal with imports of foreign produce, implement a comprehensive farmers insurance scheme and a develop a systematic program for purchasing rice.
In 1990, the Wild Lily Student Movement (野百合學運) was launched in an efoort to force government officials to dismiss the National Assembly, abolish the temporary provisions that became effective during the period of Communist Rebellion, hold a high-level national policy conference and draw up a reform timetable.
In 1991, the "100 Action Alliance" (一百行動聯盟) was founded to oppose and abolish Article 100 of the Criminal Code (刑法) in order to grant Taiwanese the freedoms of thought, speech and association.
These movements were of great importance and significance in the course of the development of Taiwan's democratic political system. Their objective was to strive for a sustainable political system.
However, Shih's campaign to unseat the president is directed at Chen rather than at establishing a sustainable political system.
Instead, Shih should raise the level of his discourse about political corruption by also touching on the need for a "sunshine law" that would require all public functionaries to disclose their financial assets to the Control Yuan, require all party assets to be reported and demand that government officials who receive illegal political donations forfeit their right to hold public office.
If Shih is instead only hell-bent on taking his anti-Chen campaign to the streets, he will harm the nation's democratic development. This kind of political campaign simply takes advantage of the media (who also benefit), regardless of the legal procedures to recall or impeach a president.
Shih clearly harbors a deliberate intention to force Chen out of office. How could Shih not be aware of the possibility that Taiwan could devolve into a third- world nation, and that his movement could plunge the country into turmoil, instability and mutual suspicion?
People have the power to cast ballots and limit the terms of elected representatives, thereby determining the government's composition and balancing its power. But Shih's need to be a martyr may destroy the nation's democratic gains, end any semblance of "responsible politics" and divert Taiwan from its course of becoming a normal country.
At this juncture, unlike Shih, the public should keep their cool to avoid further confrontation among them.
Chiu Li-li is a Tainan City councilor.
Translated by Lin Ya-ti
On June 11, Beijing designated the Taiwan Strait and several areas around Taiwan to be “coastal waters.” For those not familiar with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), China’s designation constitutes a declaration of authority to control and regulate all maritime activities within those waters. Articles 8 to 11 of the UNCLOS gives coastal nations far more authority over their “internal waters,” that is the waters to the landward side of the geographic baseline that marks the start of the 12 nautical mile (22.2km) limit of their territorial waters. Internal waters include ports, rivers, inland waterways and
The post-Cold War belief that sovereignty, international law and economic interdependence would shield smaller states from great-power coercion is steadily eroding. Across the world, major powers are once again thinking in terms of strategic neighborhoods, buffer zones and spheres of influence. Geography is reasserting itself as a central determinant of security. For Taiwan, this shift is not merely an academic debate. It is an existential challenge. Situated just 180km off the coast of communist China, democratic Taiwan occupies a position that Beijing increasingly regards as lying within its natural sphere of influence. As China’s military power expands and its ambitions grow more
It is the biggest conundrum in the world economy right now: How has China managed to go on an oil detox? As my colleague Javier Blas has written, its sharply declining appetite for petroleum is probably the single-biggest factor that has kept the crude market balanced since the Strait of Hormuz closed. The perception that China is an opaque and secretive market adds to the mystery. Perhaps the Chinese government has been releasing barrels from hidden underground stockpiles, or sparking up secret chemical plants? A close look at the reams of official data available suggests a more humdrum explanation. Public
Earlier this month, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) called for the abolition of the Control Yuan, suggesting that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party caucuses in the Legislative Yuan should reject all nominees to effectively freeze the institution before pursuing a constitutional amendment to abolish it. However, KMT legislators are yet to raise a constitutional amendment proposal and KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) has made it clear that abolishing the Control Yuan is not among the party’s current priorities. Chiang, who studied law in the US, has shown his own lack of understanding of constitutional law, and
RSS