Bravo to Presidential Office Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) for rebutting former German defense minister Rainer Eppleman, the latest in a chorus of international observers who suggested that Taiwan should cancel its UN referendums.
The referendums should go forward because they are the result of popular petitions that cleared the long application process and their inherent value should be applauded, not bemoaned or condemned.
From US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte to Eppleman and others who represent the many nations that adhere to a "one China" policy, Beijing's disapproval of the referendum seems sufficient grounds to put democracy on hold. Small wonder so few believe US intervention in Iraq has nearly as much to do with democratization as with economic and military self-interest.
It's time for representatives of democratic nations to adhere to the democratic principles they tout consistently -- not merely when convenient. For a people to express their opinion by means of a referendum is a basic right.
UN membership can be blocked by China in the UN Security Council in the near term, but Taiwanese deserve to be heard. In the long term, steps like this help nurture democracy, something the US and Germany will need to uphold if they intend to regain moral authority in international relations.
William Cooper
Richmond, Virginia
Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), former chairman of Broadcasting Corp of China and leader of the “blue fighters,” recently announced that he had canned his trip to east Africa, and he would stay in Taiwan for the recall vote on Saturday. He added that he hoped “his friends in the blue camp would follow his lead.” His statement is quite interesting for a few reasons. Jaw had been criticized following media reports that he would be traveling in east Africa during the recall vote. While he decided to stay in Taiwan after drawing a lot of flak, his hesitation says it all: If
When Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) first suggested a mass recall of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators, the Taipei Times called the idea “not only absurd, but also deeply undemocratic” (“Lai’s speech and legislative chaos,” Jan. 6, page 8). In a subsequent editorial (“Recall chaos plays into KMT hands,” Jan. 9, page 8), the paper wrote that his suggestion was not a solution, and that if it failed, it would exacerbate the enmity between the parties and lead to a cascade of revenge recalls. The danger came from having the DPP orchestrate a mass recall. As it transpired,
Elbridge Colby, America’s Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, is the most influential voice on defense strategy in the Second Trump Administration. For insight into his thinking, one could do no better than read his thoughts on the defense of Taiwan which he gathered in a book he wrote in 2021. The Strategy of Denial, is his contemplation of China’s rising hegemony in Asia and on how to deter China from invading Taiwan. Allowing China to absorb Taiwan, he wrote, would open the entire Indo-Pacific region to Chinese preeminence and result in a power transition that would place America’s prosperity
All 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), formerly of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), survived recall elections against them on Saturday, in a massive loss to the unprecedented mass recall movement, as well as to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that backed it. The outcome has surprised many, as most analysts expected that at least a few legislators would be ousted. Over the past few months, dedicated and passionate civic groups gathered more than 1 million signatures to recall KMT lawmakers, an extraordinary achievement that many believed would be enough to remove at
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