People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
Soong's anti-Su proposal was clearly meant to raise his profile and set the stage for his mayoral bid. But while the KMT may have been willing to accommodate Soong in the past, the PFP chairman's latest action has created a rift in the pan-blue camp as it would pit him against the KMT's own candidate, Hau Lung-bin (
With Soong joining the Taipei mayoral race, there seems to be little hope now of the two parties cooperating in the year-end contest. The PFP hopes to keep the fire of the anti-President Chen Shui-bian (
What does the PFP hope to achieve in toppling the Su Cabinet? Realizing that the shift to the "single-district, two-vote system" next year would be unfavorable to smaller parties, the PFP is hoping that toppling the Cabinet would lead Chen to dissolve the legislature, paving the way for early elections. The PFP would rather risk a snap election now when it can ride on the wave of public support for the anti-corruption campaign, thinking that the current political mood would favor its more radical line.
The KMT is the biggest opposition party, and looks set to regain its power. While it shares the PFP's stance against the ruling party, it is not as desperate nor as uncompromising. Legislation for new electoral districts and voting methods have not yet been completed. As such, if the legislature were dissolved, there would be a period in which the executive, legislative and control yuans will have to cease all normal functions. All checks on the president's authority will cease -- a situation that the KMT would not like to see.
If the government falls and Chen chooses to forgo disbanding the legislature in favor of inviting Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
After more than a month of anti-Chen demonstrations, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Unfortunately, the PFP's indiscriminate slash-and-burn politics and Shih's street protests are all designed to upset the nation's stability. Soong and Shih are nothing but political opportunists unconcerned with the nation's long-term political development. With the havoc that the two have created in the past, the DPP, or possibly the KMT in the future, are left with the long and laborious task of picking up the pieces.
Whichever official takes on this responsibility, he or she should have a long-term vision for building the nation's political future. Politicians like Soong, who are willing to sacrifice the interest of the majority for their own individual or party's benefits, are only a stumbling block to progress.
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