In former president Lee Teng-hui's (
Lee advocated the gradual marginalization and downsizing of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which to this day has been unable to transform itself into a pro-localization party and the formation of a third political force consisting of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and other pro-localization forces that could cooperate and compete with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in a local-oriented two-party system.
In response to Lee's speech, a KMT spokesperson said the party has been local-oriented ever since the lifting of martial law in 1987. Still, despite the party's localization efforts in the 1990s, former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) returned the party to a pro-Chinese line in 2000 with his frequent visits to China and his vow to join hands with Beijing to suppress Taiwanese independence. Today, the KMT's presidential candidate, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), is surrounded by dark-blue strategists whose vulgar campaign strategies run counter to localization.
The DPP may not agree with Lee's criticism that it is able to manipulate elections and hold pro-green voters hostage simply by pressing the unification-independence issue. But when Lee said the recent lack of intra-party unity and the negative impact of the new legislative electoral system meant the DPP might "lose its pants" in the January legislative elections, he was not trying to make a sensational statement.
He believes the DPP and the TSU together would be stronger than the DPP on its own, and that this would help safeguard a locally oriented government. He also thinks the TSU can be a positive counterbalance to the DPP, stabilizing its Taiwan awareness and preventing it from becoming corrupt.
Lee wants the TSU to move toward a social democratic, more liberal center-left position, so that a future locally oriented two-party system would also cover both left and right wing views.
The longstanding divergence on national identity and the division between the pan-blue and the pan-green camps have been conditioned by post-war historical and international developments and were not created by the two camps. But, it is true that they should be criticized for adding fuel to the fire and harming the public interest by prioritizing personal benefits.
Still, the existing political and social divergence will not remain unchanged forever. This can be seen in the pan-blue leaders over the past few years gradually daring to follow some of the pan-green camps policies.
The new electoral system has caused People First Party members to prefer a merger with the KMT, a clear reflection of the trend toward a weakening pan-blue camp and a strengthened pan-green camp.
What we can be sure of, however, is that to reach the goal of a locally oriented two-party system, the TSU must avoid disappearing in the elections. In addition to nominating good candidates, the party must also manifest a clear and firm policy direction.
Otherwise, voters will not consider voting for the TSU in the new electoral system.
Chen Yi-shen is an associate research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of Modern History.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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
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,
On April 19, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gave a public speech, his first in about 17 years. During the address at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s words were vague and his tone was sour. He said that democracy should not be used as an echo chamber for a single politician, that people must be tolerant of other views, that the president should not act as a dictator and that the judiciary should not get involved in politics. He then went on to say that others with different opinions should not be criticized as “XX fellow travelers,” in reference to
RSS