TAIWAN'S DEMOCRACY HAS reached a watershed: Its future development depends upon the integrity of the parliamentary system, which in turn relies on the impartial help of each and every political party.
At the establishment of the Taiwan Vision Forum and Association (台灣前途展望協會), academics and other experts were invited to give their opinions of legislative operations. Among the myriad of perspectives there was a common desire to improve the situation of political opposition and hostility, inefficiency in the legislature and ineffective monitoring of Cabinet operations -- all of which could be corrected through changes in regulations governing the legislature and an overall elevation of the quality of legislators.
To address the behavior of individual legislators, the association has organized a campaign titled "I want a high-quality legislator." Legislative candidates from every party have responded in support. However, in terms of the overall operations of the legislative system, change depends on a consensus between political parties and a group effort in implementing new regulations.
After compiling recommendations regarding reforms in the legislative system and discussions with representatives from the Citizen Congress Watch (公民監督國會聯盟), the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan (台灣促進和平文教基金會), the Taiwan Competitiveness Forum (台灣競爭力論壇) and other organizations all agreed that at the current stage, the legislature urgently needs transparency in its discussions between ruling and opposition parties, meetings of the Procedure Committee and voting.
Negotiations between ruling and opposition parties were originally intended to reconcile deadlocks, help reach a consensus and defuse emotive disputes. In the past, in order to maintain harmony and party prestige, politics were mostly discussed behind closed doors. Although the results of these meetings were eventually publicized, it was still satirized as "closed door politics" and it was suspected there were secret dealings between parties. Only with complete transparency in cross-party negotiations can the well-meaning efforts of political parties be understood by the public.
The Procedure Committee is responsible for determining the order in which proposals from various committees and the results of cross-party negotiations are considered on the legislative agenda. If you aren't a member of the committee, there is no access to this process. The smoothness of legislative sessions and the intensity of party conflicts are strongly influenced by the ordering of cases. If the process and results of Procedure Committee discussions were made public, it would allow better understanding of why highly contentious cases must take priority over those of a less controversial nature, and thus lead to better appreciation of the difficulties in party operations.
In democratic societies, voting is the last measure in determining controversial issues. The public has entrusted voting on bills to the legislators -- therefore all votes should be public. The Taiwan Vision Forum and Association hopes that open votes can become the norm. There is nothing that cannot be made public, especially when the issues are already public in nature.
The Taiwan Vision Forum and Association has organized a campaign advocating legislative transparency and invites all parties to lend their support. Hopefully, parties will be responsive to the public and allow the legislature to operate in the open.
Politics and the public can only remain in tune with transparency. Only then will parties accomplish the tasks they have been assigned by the public, rather than cheating them out of democracy.
Tang Fei is a former premier and current president of the Taiwan Vision Forum and Association.
TRANSLATED BY ANNA STIGGELBOUT AND ANGELA HONG
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, people have been asking if Taiwan is the next Ukraine. At a G7 meeting of national leaders in January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that Taiwan “could be the next Ukraine” if Chinese aggression is not checked. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that if Russia is not defeated, then “today, it’s Ukraine, tomorrow it can be Taiwan.” China does not like this rhetoric. Its diplomats ask people to stop saying “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” However, the rhetoric and stated ambition of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Taiwan shows strong parallels with