As we enter a new year, the arrival of a new batch of mayors and county commissioners who are not members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) may bring new prospects for local politics. In 2008 the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost the presidency, and local power has also been in the hands of its rivals since then, but now the party’s hopes have been rekindled.
The fireworks that lit up the night sky on New Year’s Eve also cast their glow over the ascent of these new leaders. Some politicians who handed their power to the newcomers chose to stay away from the New Year celebrations, letting their successors bask in the limelight, and this could be seen as an initial acceptance of their responsibility.
Although these changes are at the local level, their impact is sure to be felt in next year’s presidential election.
Local politics are generally not obscured by the convoluted issues of national sovereignty and differing identities, so it is relatively easy to judge local leaders’ performance on their merits. When the DPP had control of just six county and municipal governments, most assessments showed that DPP mayors and county commissioners performed better than their KMT counterparts. Now that it is at the helm of 13 counties and municipalities, the DPP has all the more reason to cherish the chance to do a good job.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) won the election by presenting himself as belonging to the “white” force, transcending the blue and green political camps headed by the KMT and DPP respectively. It was this image that made the impossible possible for Ko and his supporters.
However, in view of Taiwan’s overall political shift, Ko’s poll victory should be seen as an extension of the DPP’s gains. It can be expected that Ko will work in concert with the now-stronger DPP, building an impetus that may bring the KMT’s ramparts tumbling down.
There are now 13 DPP-
controlled counties and municipalities, in addition to Taipei with Ko as mayor. Together, they form five new geopolitical clusters — Taipei and Keelung together with Yilan County; Greater Taoyuan and Hsinchu County; Greater Taichung and Changhua County; Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Chiayi City and Greater Tainan; and Greater Kaohsiung and Pingtung and Penghu counties.
While this sea of green has turned the KMT-run municipalities and counties into lonely blue islands, these clusters may interact to form a new geopolitical formation. By working together for regional development, they may act as bellwethers so that people across the nation can hear the call and see the light of a new kind of politics.
Long ago, the DPP declared that it stood for clean government, diligence and love of the land. These are ideals that will never go out of date. At a time when people are sick of the KMT for clinging to ill-gotten party assets and claiming to be clean when it is really corrupt, it is all the more important for these 13+1 city and county governments to put these ideals into practice and make them into their political trademarks.
The wave of change extends all the way from north to south. No longer is the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪) an obstacle to stopping the KMT’s arbitrary rule. The public has given the DPP another chance, and they want to see the DPP and other non-KMT politicians working together to bring new hope. The new political forces in Taipei, the capital city, are echoing these calls for change. If all goes well, we will see a new face of Taiwan emerge from north to south.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Julian Clegg
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations