When it comes to Taiwanese elections, debate on independence and unification dominates. Although Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
However, the fact remains that whoever wants to win the next presidential election must prove that he is a capable leader without being captured, branded and held hostage by individual interest groups, especially the old guard within his party.
Recent inconsistencies between Ma's camp, former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
After Lien issued a "warning" statement to Ma's camp to "refrain from sacrificing its ideals for the sake of electoral victory," Ma labeled the inconsistency in the CSC report an "incident" and blamed it on his staff. The episode should not be seen simply as an accident but a manifestation of mistrust between Ma and Lien.
If it were simply a trivial mistake as Ma claims, why would Lien express such deep concern and strong anger about it without talking to Ma in advance?
Born in Hong Kong and trained in the KMT's hierarchical party structure, Ma was indoctrinated in the dogma of "ultimate unification" with China. However, because the phenomenon of "Taiwan-centered consciousness" has been strengthening in recent years, Ma has been trying to play the "Taiwan card" ever since he unveiled his campaign.
Ma's "long stay" bicycle tour around Taiwan was designed for the candidate to demonstrate love for Taiwan in the hope of scooping up the "light green" vote from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Ma further sought to downplay the unification fantasy while consolidating support from the pro-unification camp by introducing the theory of "connecting Taiwan with China" and incorporating "Taiwan" wording into the KMT's party charter, as well as saying the "Republic of China is Taiwan."
There is no doubt that Ma has been sitting on the fence on the independence-unification issue. In response to the DPP referendum on using the name "Taiwan" to join the UN, Ma decided to offer an alternative referendum using the name "the Republic of China" to return to the United Nations and whatever title is most appropriate for joining other bodies. But the truth is Ma and the KMT have not shown strong determination or concrete action to push their own referendum forward.
This time though, Ma opted to put aside the controversial "1992 consensus" -- which turned out to be nothing but a phrase invented by KMT former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) -- and obscure the unification-independence dichotomy. However, it seems he has crossed the "red line" set by the KMT old guard and was slapped in the face by Lien.
The internal political storm proves that Ma has never respected the KMT elders and has been insisting on running his own campaign.
But if Ma can resist the pressure from the KMT old guard, at least he can prove he stands for Taiwan's best interests. Regretfully, Ma's repeated vacillation on the issue proves he is willing to sacrifice his beliefs for electoral purposes.
Most importantly, what are the voters supposed to do if they hand over the country to Ma and he just changes his mind whenever he is under pressure? Can the Taiwanese people trust a presidential candidate who is more of a political opportunist than a responsible and solid leader to defend the country's sovereignty?
The bottom line is this: The next president of Taiwan must uphold the majority public opinion when it comes to national sovereignty and relations with China. The 23 million Taiwanese must have the final say on their future through a peaceful and democratic mechanism such as a national referendum.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
In a stark reminder of China’s persistent territorial overreach, Pema Wangjom Thongdok, a woman from Arunachal Pradesh holding an Indian passport, was detained for 18 hours at Shanghai Pudong Airport on Nov. 24 last year. Chinese immigration officials allegedly informed her that her passport was “invalid” because she was “Chinese,” refusing to recognize her Indian citizenship and claiming Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet. Officials had insisted that Thongdok, an Indian-origin UK resident traveling for a conference, was not Indian despite her valid documents. India lodged a strong diplomatic protest, summoning the Chinese charge d’affaires in Delhi and demanding
In the past 72 hours, US Senators Roger Wicker, Dan Sullivan and Ruben Gallego took to social media to publicly rebuke the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the defense budget. I understand that Taiwan’s head is on the chopping block, and the urgency of its security situation cannot be overstated. However, the comments from Wicker, Sullivan and Gallego suggest they have fallen victim to a sophisticated disinformation campaign orchestrated by an administration in Taipei that treats national security as a partisan weapon. The narrative fed to our allies claims the opposition is slashing the defense budget to kowtow to the Chinese
In a Taipei Times editorial published almost three years ago (“Macron goes off-piste,” April 13, 2023, page 8), French President Emmanuel Macron was criticized for comments he made immediately after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing. Macron had spoken of the need for his country to find a path on Chinese foreign policy no longer aligned with that of the US, saying that continuing to follow the US agenda would sacrifice the EU’s strategic autonomy. At the time, Macron was criticized for gifting Xi a PR coup, and the editorial said that he had been “persuaded to run
The wrap-up press event on Feb. 1 for the new local period suspense film Murder of the Century (世紀血案), adapted from the true story of the Lin family murders (林家血案) in 1980, has sparked waves of condemnation in the past week, as well as a boycott. The film is based on the shocking, unsolved murders that occurred at then-imprisoned provincial councilor and democracy advocate Lin I-hsiung’s (林義雄) residence on Feb. 28, 1980, while Lin was detained for his participation in the Formosa Incident, in which police and protesters clashed during a pro-democracy rally in Kaohsiung organized by Formosa Magazine on Dec.
RSS