KMT murdered democracy
The campaign theme of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) recent presidential run was “fairness and justice.”
Ironically, Tsai and her vice presidential candidate, Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), were the victims of unfairness and injustice in the election.
Early in the elections Su gave up his farmhouse in Pingtung in response to dubious accusations by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
The KMT used its huge assets against the impoverished DPP. The “three little pigs campaign” made the point that the DPP was running against a big bad wolf. However, it shows that the unfairness and injustice Tsai suffered in her campaign was in the present and progressive tense. Simply put, the theme was too weak and unconvincing.
Examples of the unfairness and injustice in the election include abuse of the government apparatus, the unprecedented voting date change, and the discounted airfares provided to Taiwanese businessmen in China, which amounted to a large-scale vote-buying scheme.
However, Tsai failed to address these issues effectively. She should have protested vigorously and even boycotted the whole election. Now, a precedent has been set and the KMT will not give up its new-found unfair advantages in the next round of elections. The KMT was never a democratic party. Before, it controlled Taiwan using martial law; now it wins elections using unfair advantages.
The elections in Taiwan were free, but not fair. Compared with the election in 2008, this is a big setback. Taiwan is not a democracy anymore, rather it is now an autocracy in disguise, where the KMT uses its unbridled political power to rig the elections and the DPP can do nothing about it.
There is no point or pride in Taiwanese taking part in this democratic shambles until the unfairness and injustice can be effectively addressed.
The Chinese Communist Party and the KMT have successfully killed democracy in Taiwan, while the US is a co-conspirator and the whole world just watches!
Yang Ji-charng
Columbus, Ohio
Makiyo owed an apology
I am pushed to make a comment about the state of the news media. I refer, in particular, to the broadcast media and some of the print media.
There were times during the recent election that I had a problem believing that there was such a thing as an “unbiased” news outlet. The latest example is the Makiyo incident.
Not one official has stated or in any way indicated that she is being charged with a crime related to the alleged assault on a taxi driver. Is she guilty of poor judgement? Probably. However, no formal charges have been filed as yet.
Yet this young woman is being demonized in both the press and on television as the “second coming of Beelzebub.” From newscasts I have watched and news stories I’ve read she has and is being crucified for the actions of a friend. If Taiwan is bemoaning that it is feeling some limitations on press freedom, maybe they need to do a little “self-policing” and clean up their own act.
Report the story! Get rid of the drama and personal suppositions that are coming out with every newscast. This woman is at least owed an apology for shoddy journalism.
Tom Kuleck
Greater Taichung
The saga of Sarah Dzafce, the disgraced former Miss Finland, is far more significant than a mere beauty pageant controversy. It serves as a potent and painful contemporary lesson in global cultural ethics and the absolute necessity of racial respect. Her public career was instantly pulverized not by a lapse in judgement, but by a deliberate act of racial hostility, the flames of which swiftly encircled the globe. The offensive action was simple, yet profoundly provocative: a 15-second video in which Dzafce performed the infamous “slanted eyes” gesture — a crude, historically loaded caricature of East Asian features used in Western
Is a new foreign partner for Taiwan emerging in the Middle East? Last week, Taiwanese media reported that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) secretly visited Israel, a country with whom Taiwan has long shared unofficial relations but which has approached those relations cautiously. In the wake of China’s implicit but clear support for Hamas and Iran in the wake of the October 2023 assault on Israel, Jerusalem’s calculus may be changing. Both small countries facing literal existential threats, Israel and Taiwan have much to gain from closer ties. In his recent op-ed for the Washington Post, President William
A stabbing attack inside and near two busy Taipei MRT stations on Friday evening shocked the nation and made headlines in many foreign and local news media, as such indiscriminate attacks are rare in Taiwan. Four people died, including the 27-year-old suspect, and 11 people sustained injuries. At Taipei Main Station, the suspect threw smoke grenades near two exits and fatally stabbed one person who tried to stop him. He later made his way to Eslite Spectrum Nanxi department store near Zhongshan MRT Station, where he threw more smoke grenades and fatally stabbed a person on a scooter by the roadside.
Taiwan-India relations appear to have been put on the back burner this year, including on Taiwan’s side. Geopolitical pressures have compelled both countries to recalibrate their priorities, even as their core security challenges remain unchanged. However, what is striking is the visible decline in the attention India once received from Taiwan. The absence of the annual Diwali celebrations for the Indian community and the lack of a commemoration marking the 30-year anniversary of the representative offices, the India Taipei Association and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center, speak volumes and raise serious questions about whether Taiwan still has a coherent India
RSS