Year’s direction unknown
Last year ended with disasters around the world: African swine fever severely hit the Chinese pork market; in the stock markets, the Dow fell more than 20 percent from its high, although it rebounded on the second business day; the eruption of a volcano in Indonesia triggered a tsunami, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries; wildfires raged in northern and southern California, destroying houses and lives; and the green team suffered in Taiwan’s local elections.
Now that 2019 is here, what can we expect for the year? It is the year of the pig according to the Chinese zodiac, but China has disease-affected pigs nearly everywhere. While Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is still figuring out how to counter US President Donald Trump in their trade dispute, Chinese are deeply confused over how Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟) could have three sons and one daughter amid China’s one-child policy.
Next year sees the presidential election in Taiwan. To ensure their opportunity to secure the party nomination, candidates from the blue team could not wait to launch their campaigns right after the nine-in-one elections.
Former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said: “My goal is clear: To fight for Taiwan in 2020. Taiwan must connect with the world and compete with the world.”
That sounds like good news, but will he dare challenge China over its “one China” principle?
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also joined the race.
After November’s elections, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said he is building energy every day to run for president. Please check with him again in June.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is still struggling after its losses. Although the elections were more than a month ago, the DPP is still unclear about how it lost in so many areas.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) blamed herself and resigned as party chairperson. She degraded her presidential post to visit Ko and got insulted.
On Dec. 24, then-minister of education Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) reluctantly agreed to appoint Kuan Chung-ming (管中閔) as president of National Taiwan University.
Yeh informed KMT Legislator Ko Chih-en (柯志恩) before a news conference to announce the move, but did not notify DPP members, causing great concern among diehard supporters.
Tsai and Premier William Lai (賴清德) issued statements clarifying that it was the wrong decision and that they had no prior knowledge of it.
Tsai is too naive, although DPP members and supporters listen to her, back her and vote for her. She always looks down on her supporters and even said that the DPP has no talent. It is really disappointing that Tsai has performed so poorly.
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
Tom Chang errs
Mr Tom Chang (Letters, Dec. 28, page 8) is wrong in asserting that Taiwan was never part of China’s territory.
Taiwan was annexed from China by Japan through force of arms in 1895. It was returned to China in 1945 in accordance with international law provided under the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Declaration, which forms Japan’s instrument of unconditional surrender, and Japan signed as the defeated country alongside China, as well as the US and other Allied nations. This is a clear and unambiguous testament to the fact that except for the 50 years between 1895 and 1945, when Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule, Taiwan has always been part of China’s territory.
Therefore, 1945 marks the date when China resumed sovereignty over Taiwan, not the beginning of military occupation as Mr Chang contends. Since that year, China — in the form of the Republic of China (ROC) — has ruled Taiwan.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is head of the ROC. She flies its flag from the Presidential Office Building. If the ROC is not legitimate as Mr Chang purports, what does that make President Tsai and her government?
Wen Lam Chang
Hong Kong
Kaohsiung’s Pai pick
Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) has made entertainer Pai Ping-ping (白冰冰) the city’s spokesperson.
When Cabinet deputy spokesperson Ting Yun-kung (丁允恭) questioned whether the pick was in line with the image city is trying to build, Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau Director Pan Heng-hsu (潘恆旭) called him part of an “arrogant elite.”
However, Pan’s new boss better fits the description.
Han called Kaohsiung residents “old and poor,” although Kaohsiung is not the oldest of the six special municipalities, and only New Taipei City and Taipei are richer.
However, after taking office, Han has showed that he is not actually part of any elite group, but rather has fake elitism stemming from real arrogance, which is even worse.
One can only wonder why Pan did not react to Han’s statement.
It might be a matter of taste whether the selection of Pai will negatively affect Kaohsiung’s image, but it is city government policy and Pai is a public personality, so of course it can be criticized.
Liu Ying
Taipei
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, people have been asking if Taiwan is the next Ukraine. At a G7 meeting of national leaders in January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that Taiwan “could be the next Ukraine” if Chinese aggression is not checked. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that if Russia is not defeated, then “today, it’s Ukraine, tomorrow it can be Taiwan.” China does not like this rhetoric. Its diplomats ask people to stop saying “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” However, the rhetoric and stated ambition of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Taiwan shows strong parallels with