A preliminary meeting between Premier Su Tseng-chang (
While it is understandable that Su, the country's highest administrative official, would want to talk with the opposition, the topics they eventually discuss should focus strictly on issues of national importance, like the passage of the long-stalled arms procurement bill and legislation that impacts on people's lives.
The proposed Su-Ma meeting should not consist of negotiations on how to end the anti-President Chen Shui-bian (
It should not, as several media outlets reported earlier this week, be an opportunity for party heavyweights, in the hope of easing tensions, to act as mediators and conduct some sort of shady deal patching things up between Chen and the campaign's leader, Shih Ming-teh (
If that is Su's intention, he should be warned not to place too much stock in the meeting with Ma. After all, the ultimate goal of the opposition is for the president to step down.
There is no need for any political negotiation, nor is there a need for other politicians to get involved when it is Shih himself who needs to clean up his mess and formulate an exit strategy.
Shih was the one responsible for bringing the crowds to Ketagalan Boulevard in the first place, portraying himself as a martyr and claiming that he had written his will. It was he who said that he would stage the anti-Chen sit-in protest until "either I die or Chen dies."
Shih's campaign has succeeded in bringing only unrest, economic losses, renewed ethnic friction and traffic congestion, all of which are slowly eroding the campaign's momentum, let alone any support it may have had from the pan-green crowd.
However inconvenient things may get because of Shih's protest, Taiwan's leaders must not let the nation's democratic institutions be damaged by this momentary madness.
Taiwan has not worked to bring about democracy and establish a depoliticized system of law and order so that celebrities can make reckless statements, instigate street clashes, side with former autocrats -- and then expect to receive an audience with elected officials.
Why should anybody bother voting if, every time the nation finds itself in political strife, some self-proclaimed messiah appears and gathers a crowd of followers -- with opposition backing -- who demand that the head of state be deposed?
The president is elected by this nation. The length of his tenure should not be decided during a few secretive meetings between senior political figures from various parties.
Whatever negotiations go on in these closed-door meetings can only damage the nation's democratic mechanisms.
The most responsible action would be to allow the judiciary to do its job and continue with its investigation into the cases that have implicated the president's family and advisers.
As Ma himself often says: "Let everything be conducted in accordance with the law."
Indeed.
And as for Shih, the best exit strategy for him would be to swallow his pride, end his sit-in and go home.
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