The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has elected a new chairwoman, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). She is taking over at a difficult time for the party: Tomorrow the DPP hands over the reins of government to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and once again joins the ranks of the opposition.
The DPP’s political fortunes are foundering. The party controls just eight county and city governments in the south and 27 of the 113 seats in the legislature. It will have great difficulties in blocking any KMT attempt to amend the Constitution, not to mention introducing or influencing legislation and budget decisions.
The DPP won’t just be an opposition party, it will be a weak one.
Tsai also has to deal with party debt totaling hundreds of millions of NT dollars. To be able to handle the DPP’s financial problems and meet the obligations of an opposition party, Tsai must reform the organization and streamline its staff.
She must also deal with calls to end government corruption and ensure a government that is working for Taiwan. The corruption scandals of the past eight years have damaged any claims of the party to clean government. The carelessness of the top leadership — exposed when the Papua New Guinea fund scandal erupted earlier this month — has seriously damaged the nation’s image in addition to wasting US$30 million.
With DPP approval ratings at only 18 percent, any attempt to turn public opinion will be difficult.
Another point of great concern is party unity. The competition between Yu Shyi-kun, Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) to be the party’s presidential nomination revealed rifts that have yet to heal. During the party chairperson election campaign, festering differences between the dismantled factions surfaced once again. It was just luck that the two candidates restrained themselves and their supporters in an attempt to fight a clean campaign and avoid a new factional war.
Although the party faces a host of problems, it is still an important political asset for Taiwan. The DPP government’s contribution to Taiwan’s democratic and human rights development over the past eight years cannot be denied. It has also had an active part in strengthening the Taiwanese identity.
The DPP will remain the most important opposition party and the only one capable of monitoring the KMT.
As the KMT turns enthusiastically to China, the DPP will also be the only protector of Taiwanese identity and interests that could stop Taiwan from being sucked into a whirlwind pro-unification campaign.
The DPP is in tatters, but this could prove to Tsai’s advantage. Now that the party has nothing, there will be less to hold her back. So long as she can maintain the party’s core values, she will be able to push through her proposals for party reform.
If the party sticks to democracy, liberty and concern for Taiwan and works to repair its image, it will be doing more constructive things than it has over the past eight years. Only then would a return to government be possible.
President William Lai (賴清德) attended a dinner held by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) when representatives from the group visited Taiwan in October. In a speech at the event, Lai highlighted similarities in the geopolitical challenges faced by Israel and Taiwan, saying that the two countries “stand on the front line against authoritarianism.” Lai noted how Taiwan had “immediately condemned” the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and had provided humanitarian aid. Lai was heavily criticized from some quarters for standing with AIPAC and Israel. On Nov. 4, the Taipei Times published an opinion article (“Speak out on the
Eighty-seven percent of Taiwan’s energy supply this year came from burning fossil fuels, with more than 47 percent of that from gas-fired power generation. The figures attracted international attention since they were in October published in a Reuters report, which highlighted the fragility and structural challenges of Taiwan’s energy sector, accumulated through long-standing policy choices. The nation’s overreliance on natural gas is proving unstable and inadequate. The rising use of natural gas does not project an image of a Taiwan committed to a green energy transition; rather, it seems that Taiwan is attempting to patch up structural gaps in lieu of
News about expanding security cooperation between Israel and Taiwan, including the visits of Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) in September and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) this month, as well as growing ties in areas such as missile defense and cybersecurity, should not be viewed as isolated events. The emphasis on missile defense, including Taiwan’s newly introduced T-Dome project, is simply the most visible sign of a deeper trend that has been taking shape quietly over the past two to three years. Taipei is seeking to expand security and defense cooperation with Israel, something officials
“Can you tell me where the time and motivation will come from to get students to improve their English proficiency in four years of university?” The teacher’s question — not accusatory, just slightly exasperated — was directed at the panelists at the end of a recent conference on English language learning at Taiwanese universities. Perhaps thankfully for the professors on stage, her question was too big for the five minutes remaining. However, it hung over the venue like an ominous cloud on an otherwise sunny-skies day of research into English as a medium of instruction and the government’s Bilingual Nation 2030
RSS