Ahead of the start of a mass sit-in aimed at ousting President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who is under siege over corruption charges, political analysts said the nation was feeling its way toward becoming a mature democracy.
The campaign initiated by former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh (
Shih collected some NT$111 million (US$3.37 million) in just seven working days, after calling on the public to each donate NT$100 as a mark of commitment to the campaign, which Shih's camp said proved that at least 1 million people backed the sit-in protest demanding Chen's resignation.
The campaign, however, has sparked concerns, with high-profile Taiwanese writers Richard Leen (李家同) and Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) publishing articles in local media that say taking to the streets is not necessarily the best choice for the country.
Commenting on the anti-Chen campaign, Ku Chung-Hwa (顧忠華), professor of sociology at National Chengchi University, said that it provided an outlet for people to release their discontent about Chen, but he doubted they would be able to accomplish their goal.
"I am not surprised at the huge amount of money Shih has raised within a short time, and I don't think the number of 1 million people has special meaning," Ku said.
"When half of the voters, about 6 million, are against Chen at the very beginning and the NT$100 donation is used as a way for them to participate in the anti-Chen campaign, the legitimacy of the appeal is questionable," he added.
Ku praised Shih for arousing people's sense of justice and promoting the idea that government corruption is unacceptable in launching his campaign.
But he said that the value of the campaign would be limited if it was targeted at Chen and failed to facilitate changes that helped prevent corruption.
"For example, they should bring up ideas such as enacting anti-corruption bills and establishing an independent investigative and prosecutorial system," Ku said, referring to stalled political reforms.
Shih said on Aug. 12, when he announced the campaign, that its only goal would be to depose the president and it would not end until Chen chose to step down.
"It is people's right to stage demonstrations in a democracy, where different opinions should be respected, and what the demonstrators are demanding does not always have to be accepted," said Michael Hsiao (蕭新煌), professor of sociology at National Taiwan University.
Until Chen was found to have been involved in corrupt dealings, Hsiao said that calls for his resignation were actually based on the idea of morality.
"I am not saying that appeals on moral grounds cannot be strong enough to cause a president's resignation, but it should be considered only after constitutional procedures and judicial procedure are completed, given that we live in a democracy ruled by laws," Hsiao said.
He said that Taiwan was not yet a mature democracy where "morality, violence and religion" should all take a back seat to law and order.
Speaking of the anti-Chen campaign, as well as religious leaders' comments on politics and an incident in which a former lawmaker attacked a political commentator during a live TV news talk show, Hsiao concluded that Taiwan was still learning how to become a mature democracy.
Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), a researcher at Academia Sinica's Institute of Modern History, said that morality -- the theme of Shih's anti-Chen campaign -- was a doubled-edged sword. He said it could hurt Shih as well as the president.
"In this case, the morality issue damaged Shih's reputation because of the exposure of his character [faults], which in turn have impaired the legitimacy of the anti-Chen campaign," Chen Yi-shen said.
He said that he might support Shih if the anti-corruption campaign had happened 20 years ago.
"Now that we already have democracy, this kind of mass movement to oust the president is equal to populism. If Chen is not found guilty by the judicial system, resigning because of a campaign against him would do great damage to the nation's democratic system," Chen Yi-shen said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard