At long last, the Chen administration is about to deliver a symbolic victory -- of sorts -- to its core supporters.
Chiang Kai-shek International Airport will almost certainly be renamed the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, while retaining its codename, TPE, for administrative purposes.
It is a most satisfactory development to have the name of a dictator stripped from the first port of call for most foreign visitors to this country, though perhaps most ordinary people will not react strongly in either direction. For that reason, it is unlikely that the change will attract serious opposition.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
For the Democratic Progressive Party, the change may herald a more aggressive approach on initiatives that are entirely within the control of the executive, but which have stalled in the past because of fears of retaliation by the legislature.
The change also points to a chink in the KMT's armor that Chen will be looking to further exploit. Chen has appealed to and received support from KMT politicians in Taoyuan -- including the crucial voice of County Commissioner Chu Li-lun (
The remarkable thing about the Chen era, however, is that so little has changed. In previous eras, a new colonial government would install itself and, regardless of the opinions of locals, remap the country with references to itself and its preferred symbols, heroes and philosophical underpinnings.
In so doing, meaningful history would be wiped out, replaced by a lattice of uniformity and irrelevance. There is no more conspicuous example of this imposition than urban road networks, with their mandatory honoring of Sun Yat-sen (
Most people will oppose wholesale changes to even these because of the inconvenience, not ideology. But there are some changes that do matter: If Chen couldn't deflate the would-be personality cult of a dictator, then he should not have been president.
All too often the public has been regaled with lectures on the importance of nation-building, but with little from the lecturer to show for it. This may change as Chen enters the last lap of his presidency.
Some analysts have predicted that Chen will feverishly use the remainder of his term to fortify his legacy, thus potentially destabilizing the region with theatrical actions that would infuriate Beijing.
This danger is grossly overstated. Any meaningful legacy involves fortifying domestic support not for him personally but for the integrity of the nation. There are many things he can do in attempting this, but the pragmatic nature of Taiwanese is such that the extent of his reach is limited by local power structures -- which is exactly why he had to consult with the Taoyuan County commissioner on the renaming of an international facility.
If the airport's new title is rather clumsy, then this is the price the administration must pay to secure local support. It seems that Chen and his lengthy team of shuffling ministers has finally worked out -- all too late, for many -- how to grip political weapons with both hands and run an executive.
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,
RSS