If the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has a conscience, it should feel ashamed of benefiting a great deal from the recent legislative elections.
Many people did not vote for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidates because of the poor performance of the DPP government and several corruption cases. However, the KMT is partly responsible for the DPP administration's poor performance because KMT legislators repeatedly boycotted proposed government projects and disapproved or cut budgets, including the national and defense budgets. The KMT would rather see the DPP government fail than allow it to operate smoothly.
The past eight years also saw persistent conflict between the central government and the KMT-controlled Taipei City Government, which appears bent on implementing a "one nation, two systems" in Taiwan. Determined to oppose the government, the KMT continues to worship dictatorship, wears its "China" hat and is committed to "ultimate unification."
Corruption by government officials and their family members should be condemned. But the fact is the KMT is not any cleaner than the DPP. In last Saturday's referendums, 91.5 percent of the valid votes cast were in favor of asking the KMT to return its stolen assets and 58.2 percent were in favor of punishing corrupt officials. Unfortunately, both issues were defeated partly because of the KMT's campaign to boycott the referendums, including the one it proposed. Strangely, the KMT was afraid of a high turnout of voters.
In spite of the fatal setback the DPP suffered, DPP members have displayed sportsmanship. In contrast, after the last two presidential elections in 2000 and 2004, the KMT and other pan-blue party members protested loudly and violently in the streets day and night for several months. Taiwan needs democracy with sportsmanship.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry gives it a strategic advantage, but that advantage would be threatened as the US seeks to end Taiwan’s monopoly in the industry and as China grows more assertive, analysts said at a security dialogue last week. While the semiconductor industry is Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” its dominance has been seen by some in the US as “a monopoly,” South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University academic Kwon Seok-joon said at an event held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In addition, Taiwan lacks sufficient energy sources and is vulnerable to natural disasters and geopolitical threats from China, he said.
After reading the article by Hideki Nagayama [English version on same page] published in the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Wednesday, I decided to write this article in hopes of ever so slightly easing my depression. In August, I visited the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan, to attend a seminar. While there, I had the chance to look at the museum’s collections. I felt extreme annoyance at seeing that the museum had classified Taiwanese indigenous peoples as part of China’s ethnic minorities. I kept thinking about how I could make this known, but after returning
What value does the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hold in Taiwan? One might say that it is to defend — or at the very least, maintain — truly “blue” qualities. To be truly “blue” — without impurities, rejecting any “red” influence — is to uphold the ideology consistent with that on which the Republic of China (ROC) was established. The KMT would likely not object to this notion. However, if the current generation of KMT political elites do not understand what it means to be “blue” — or even light blue — their knowledge and bravery are far too lacking
Taipei’s population is estimated to drop below 2.5 million by the end of this month — the only city among the nation’s six special municipalities that has more people moving out than moving in this year. A city that is classified as a special municipality can have three deputy mayors if it has a population of more than 2.5 million people, Article 55 of the Local Government Act (地方制度法) states. To counter the capital’s shrinking population, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) held a cross-departmental population policy committee meeting on Wednesday last week to discuss possible solutions. According to Taipei City Government data, Taipei’s