The Taiwan Society's rally last Saturday was designed to show support for embattled President Chen Shui-bian (
But no sooner had the rally finished, then the pro-unification media were trying to rubbish it and gain the moral high ground -- claiming that the red masses that took to the streets the previous night were not mobilized by any group or party, but part of a broad-based civic movement that transcended party political interests.
But there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.
During the first few days, there were numerous visits to the sit-in by pan-blue big hitters, such as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
And while it was OK to berate pan-green fans and accuse them of traveling from southern Taiwan on the promise of a free lunch box, the free breakfasts, lunches, dinners, drinks and even massages handed out daily to the anti-Chen crowd hardly got a mention. Ma admitted after showing up to serve breakfast last week that the KMT had paid the bill.
Outside the Taipei Railway Station on Monday, one elderly participant remarked that the protest had now become a "Bian down" movement -- said in English but made to sound like the Chinese for lunch box -- insinuating that many attendees were at the rally merely for the free meals.
Many participants shuffle around the sit-in site wearing caps bearing the name of their favorite pan-blue politician. It is not difficult to predict what would happen if one wore a "depose Chen" T-shirt combined with a Frank Hsieh cap to this supposed non-partisan shindig.
At one side of the protest is a large printed diatribe about how former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen are fervent supporters of Taiwan independence, how they want to destroy the Republic of China and start a war with the People's Republic of China -- hardly relevant to an anti-corruption drive.
Then there are cable channels like TVBS providing 24-hour blanket coverage of the event -- interspersed with provocative "news" features on the 2004 "Orange Revolution" in the Ukraine and the Philippines "people power" movements.
These kinds of activities are hardly going to inspire pan-green fans to show up, even if they do believe the president, his family and aides have overstepped the mark.
And while the pan-blues have stopped short of any obvious mobilization efforts, everyone can see that the sit-in has now been hijacked by anyone with an axe to grind about Chen and the pro-localization movement in general.
If Shih and his people were really interested in a non-partisan fight against corruption, they would refuse to share a stage with people like Soong. If they really wanted to claim the moral high-ground they would not let people like TV-chat-show-guest-beater Lin Cheng-chieh (林正杰), a founder of the China Unification Promotion Party who associates with wanted gangsters, attend.
And if Shih's movement really wanted to advance the cause of clean politics then it would push all legislators to pass the raft of anti-corruption legislation that has been stalled in the legislature for nearly as long as the arms bill.
A genuine civic movement would be aimed at a complete overhaul of the political system, which as an engine needs oil, now needs graft to keep it ticking over. It would not just consist of a thinly veiled attack on one man, his party and his supporters. It's time to drop the masquerade.
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