Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) caused a stir the other day by saying something that to many people is blindingly obvious — Taiwan needs a new constitution.
What was of particular note about this news was not that Lee called for the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution to be scrapped, but that so few other politicians or former national leaders voiced support for his proposal.
Not even former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was able to successfully challenge the vaunted piece of fantasy that is the ROC Constitution.
It is beyond comprehension that the 19th-biggest economy in the world lives under a Constitution that nobody, not even the people who enforce it — with the possible exception of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) — believes to be a legitimate representation of reality.
The ROC Constitution, which was adopted by the National Assembly on Dec. 25, 1946, and went into effect one year later, was originally intended to apply to all of China. Today it is de facto law for only Taiwan and a few small islands, but continues to claim sovereignty over all of China, Tibet and Mongolia, not to mention parts of Russia that not even the People’s Republic of China (PRC) claims.
That Taiwan still uses this Constitution is the biggest roadblock to the nation ever becoming independent. The only countries that do recognize Taiwan’s independence are islands in the Pacific Ocean, a handful of countries in Africa and South American nations.
Why is it that only Lee, a retired statesman, is willing to call a spade a spade?
The ROC stands for the Republic of China, not Taiwan, and until politicians face this fact, Taiwanese will never be able to independently decide their own fate.
Taiwan being a democracy is irrelevant if the Constitution claims authority over China, Tibet and Mongolia — if a real representative referendum were held on Taiwan’s independence, how would the Chinese vote?
The main reason for not scrapping the Constitution is a practical one — avoiding war with China. The bottom line for the PRC is that the ROC never declares independence, and as long as Taiwan retains its current Constitution, it is doing just what China wants. However, Taiwan will never be an independent nation if this piece of legal fantasy remains in force.
If an elected government were to revoke the ROC Constitution or rewrite it in a way that defined Taiwan as an independent country, separate and equal to the PRC, the People’s Liberation Army would attack.
To turn Taiwan into an independent nation, it is an absolute prerequisite that the ROC Constitution be scrapped, but one that brings with it major risks.
The most likely scenario if this were to be done would be a war with China, and few politicians, not even those from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, are ready to face that challenge.
Until that is done, Taiwan will continue to be just part of China, as defined by the ROC Constitution.
Weeks into the craze, nobody quite knows what to make of the OpenClaw mania sweeping China, marked by viral photos of retirees lining up for installation events and users gathering in red claw hats. The queues and cosplay inspired by the “raising a lobster” trend make for irresistible China clickbait. However, the West is fixating on the least important part of the story. As a consumer craze, OpenClaw — the AI agent designed to do tasks on a user’s behalf — would likely burn out. Without some developer background, it is too glitchy and technically awkward for true mainstream adoption,
Out of 64 participating universities in this year’s Stars Program — through which schools directly recommend their top students to universities for admission — only 19 filled their admissions quotas. There were 922 vacancies, down more than 200 from last year; top universities had 37 unfilled places, 40 fewer than last year. The original purpose of the Stars Program was to expand admissions to a wider range of students. However, certain departments at elite universities that failed to meet their admissions quotas are not improving. Vacancies at top universities are linked to students’ program preferences on their applications, but inappropriate admission
Taiwan-South Korea relations face a critical test, as a deadline forces both sides to confront a long-simmering issue. Taipei has requested that Seoul correct its classification of Taiwan in South Korea’s e-arrival system, where it has been labeled as “China (Taiwan)” since Feb. 24 last year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs set today as a clear deadline for revision, warning that failure to act would trigger reciprocal measures beginning tomorrow. Taipei has already signaled its willingness to respond. Beginning on March 1, the government changed the designation of South Koreans on the alien resident certificates from the “Republic of Korea” to “South
On Monday, a group of bipartisan US senators arrived in Taiwan to support the nation’s special defense bill to counter Chinese threats. At the same time, Beijing announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had invited Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) to visit China, a move to make the KMT a pawn in its proxy warfare against Taiwan and the US. Since her inauguration as KMT chair last year, Cheng, widely seen as a pro-China figure, has made no secret of her desire to interact with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and meet with Xi, naming it a
RSS