The air seems to be filled with reconciliation these days in the nation's political arena following President Chen Shui-bian's (
While the scene has thus far drawn high hopes and anticipation about whether Chen's goodwill gestures would result in a beginning of cooperation and understanding between the opposing camps, to many pan-blues, however, one question hovers over their heads: Can we negotiate with Chen in good faith?
"Reminded of their past encounters, many pan-blues are uncertain of Chen's words. They might cast doubt on the sincerity of his words," said Hsu Yung-ming (
Hsu was referring to the event five years ago when Chen met with various opposition party leaders one by one, including Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
The high-profile meeting between Chen and Lien, however, was left in tatters when, within an hour after their meeting, then premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
The declaration dampened the rapprochement created in those meetings, where Chen told Lien that he was willing to consider the KMT's proposal of proceeding with the plant.
The timing of the nuclear plant decision appeared to be an affront to Lien, some analysts said at the time.
"That encounter made the opposition somewhat suspicious of Chen," said Hsu.
Acknowledging the blue camp's suspicions, uncertainty and insecurity, DPP Legislator Lee Ming-hsien (李明憲) said the opposition should get over it and look forward.
"How do you approach reconciliation if you don't let go of the past? Reconciliation requires an end to dwelling on the past and looking forward to the future," Lee said.
"To reconcile, the governing party must be humble," he said, adding "by the same token, the opposition parties should be reasonable when talking about reconciliation."
In an apparent move aimed at substantiating his New Year's message, Chen has kept busy meeting with senior members from both political camps, was well as prominent figures in the business community.
On Monday, Chen met with Presidential Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) at the Presidential Office. On Tuesday, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was invited to meet with Chen at the Presidential Office. And on Thursday, Chen met with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), as well as Formosa Plastics Group president Wang Yung-ching (王永慶).
"Judging from the sequence of individuals Chen met with last week, it is clear that he is taking steps toward reconciliation," Hsu said.
Heavy media coverage of Chen's meetings with these political heavyweights has also helped generate an impression with the general public that Chen is sincere about cooperating with the blue camp, analysts say.
In his New Year's address, the president said that "anything can be open to reconciliation or cooperation between the governing and opposition parties as long as it will help stabilize domestic politics, the welfare of the people, promote harmony among ethnic groups and cross-strait peace."
The more humble the gestures Chen displays, the more pressure will be placed on the pan-blue camp, some analysts observed.
"People in Taiwan are yearning for political stability and wish not to be bombarded by the seemingly continuous conflict between the opposing camps," said Chiang Ming-chin (
Chiang said the pan-blues, regardless of their uncertainty, might want to give Chen the benefit of the doubt and "believe the sincerity in his words about reconciliation."
"In light of Chen's series of gestures conveying his goodwill signals, if the pan-blue leaders remain idle to Chen's gestures, the people will be turned off," Chiang added.
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not