Many people are framing the next presidential election as a decisive battle for the future of Taiwan.
Of course, such things are said as any general election approaches. However, few would argue that Taiwan needs a strong hand on the tiller at this point in its history, or that the electorate have a clear choice.
Unfortunately, the two largest parties — the Democratic Progressive Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — have long been guilty of divisive politicking and clinging to party lines. Both have performed poorly as constructive opposition in challenging the government when needed or providing rational policy recommendations, as opposed to blatant boycotting and political point-scoring.
The game seems to be to stymie every move the governing party makes in the hope of a transition in power the next time around. Meanwhile, a legislative majority guarantees that the governing party’s legislation goes through.
The most rational voice of opposition often comes from outside the two parties.
One such case this week was from the New Power Party (NPP), which has little chance of forming a government in the foreseeable future; another was from a self-avowedly neutral Ministry of Foreign Affairs official. Both were in response to policy ideas mooted by Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Saturday last week.
In response to Han’s call for the annulment of the government’s pension reforms and a reinstatement of the 18 percent preferential interest rate on savings for retired public-sector employees, NPP Legislator Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) accused him of irresponsibly handing out promises he could not keep for the sake of his presidential aspirations.
One might have a problem with the pension reforms, Hung said, but the issue needs to be addressed rationally and not exploited through populist posturing that would ultimately sacrifice the financial future of the next generation.
KMT and DPP governments have long known that the pension system needed to be reformed if bankruptcy was to be avoided and the longer the reforms were delayed, the more painful they were to be.
The preferential interest rate was introduced at a time when the general interest rate was as high as 12 percent: It is now closer to 1 percent. It was also a time when the economy was booming and private sector salaries were soaring, so it was fair and reasonable to seek ways to adjust the remuneration of public-sector employees.
Taiwan’s economic heyday is long gone. Many people are worried about their salaries, savings and pensions. A more considered approach to reassure them might be to look into how to improve the economy, or the institutions and welfare they might rely on in retirement and old age. This would benefit everyone.
Simply returning to what was long-acknowledged as an unsustainable model is opportunistic, lazy and unfair to the next generation.
Ministry official Jerry Liu (劉仕傑), in a Facebook post, tackled Han’s idea of “money-making” diplomacy. Compared with the models of previous presidents — Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) flexible diplomacy, Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) pragmatic diplomacy, Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) viable diplomacy and President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) steadfast diplomacy — Han’s model makes absolutely no sense to a career diplomat such as Liu. Again, it is a hollow, populist appeal that betrays a fundamental lack of awareness as to what diplomacy is, how it operates and what its objectives are.
For Liu, diplomacy is about earning trust and respect, about making a contribution and projecting a message of goodwill. Turning up to the party and demanding cash prizes is not going to achieve these goals.
God save us from the politicians.
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
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
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