Sunday saw the conclusion of the latest cross-strait forum held in Beijing between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
The forum came just days after the nation's 11th attempt to gain admission to the WHO was rejected because of China's interference.
It also came as China last week -- once again -- tried to deny Taiwan's sovereignty by making it the first leg of the "domestic route" for the torch in the build-up to next year's Beijing Olympics.
And it comes after seven years of Chinese authorities ignoring the democratic government of Taiwan.
That China has almost 1,000 ballistic missiles pointing at their homeland didn't seem to bother the delegates from Taiwan in the least.
These are the same KMT and People First Party lawmakers who swore allegiance to the Republic of China and vowed to uphold its integrity, but stand there like dummies while Chinese leaders denigrate the nation and treat them like provincial delegates.
That these people do not represent the government of Taiwan and have no authority to discuss and seal such deals didn't seem to take anything away from the occasion.
Lien and his friends could return to Taiwan with a few more meaningless economic concessions from their "friends" across the Strait, but the few crumbs that Beijing has thrown at them are just the latest chapter in China's "united front" strategy that aims to suck the life out of Taiwan's economic autonomy until the nation -- and its independence -- is swallowed up by its neighbor.
All the measures are designed to do is prevent Taiwan's dynamic business sector from reaching out further around the globe, help China secure even more of Taiwan's investment capital and steal Taiwan's know-how and intellectual property.
We have already seen an example with the fruit exports that the KMT agreed on with China during one of its trips. Not long after the first batches of Taiwanese fruit arrived in China, the Chinese market was swamped with low-quality fakes and imitations -- all claiming to be from Taiwan -- hurting the revenues and reputation of Taiwanese farmers.
The behavior of the opposition since Lien's first trip to China in 2005 has been a thorn in the side of the government. But it is particularly hard to know how to deal with legislators who participate in subversive activity and deal directly with the government of a hostile state.
Jailing them or revoking passports would lead the former political prisoners and democracy activists in the Democratic Progressive Party into a domestic conflict for which they are ill-prepared.
The best we can ultimately hope for in a democracy is that the electorate will see through the faux loyalty of these opportunists and punish those who block important legislative matters at home to cosy up to a regime of autocrats.
One of the great hopes for the new legislative electoral system is that it will help dispose of some of the flotsam that pose as legislators.
In order to facilitate this, the names of the 30 lawmakers who attended the forum and those who visit China on a regular basis should be publicized so that the electorate can make a clear and informed choice between legislators who are proud to represent Taiwan and those who are more interested in singing the praises of China.
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