The founding members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have had different goals for both the future of the party and Taiwan from the day the DPP was established — Sept. 28, 1986. This was the reflection of several founding members in a book documenting the party’s establishment and at a ceremony to launch the book yesterday.
The diversity of DPP members’ political ideology could be regarded as a natural phenomenon, considering the political atmosphere of the dangwai (黨外, “outside the party”) — period before the party was born, said Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深) Academia Sinica research fellow and chief editor of Oral History of the DPP, in which 15 politicians and political advocates are interviewed about the party’s establishment and early days.
“At the time, the DPP was the collection of a group of anti-Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] dissidents that included people with many ideologies, including both Taiwan independence and unification. Their one similarity was their advocacy of freedom and democracy,” Chen said.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Once the DPP resolved to support Taiwan independence, the unificationists left, and the issue of the party’s China policy cam to the fore and remains hotly debated within the party.
Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who is known as a moderate on China policy, said in his interview that the DPP should recognize the Republic of China (ROC) and the ROC Constitution and use them as the foundation for fostering better ties with Beijing.
Hsieh, who proposed the party’s name in 1986, was also quoted as saying that adaptation was needed for a return to power and that if the DPP failed to win the presidential election in 2016, the party could become completely marginalized and “disappear.”
Ju Gao-jeng (朱高正), one of the 15 interviewees, was quoted in the book as saying that promoting Taiwan independence had been “the biggest mistake” in the history of the DPP. Ju, who was known for his physical confrontation with KMT politicians when he served as DPP lawmaker, eventually left the party in 1990 and has engaged extensively with Beijing in recent years.
However, there were DPP founding members who stood on the opposite side of the spectrum, including former premier Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃).
Yu, who was also interviewed in the book, said on the sidelines of the book launch yesterday that the DPP’s biggest problem was “the lack of the courage to say out loud what it supported — be it Taiwan independence or normalization of the country” and that this failing could alienate voters.
Meanwhile, Yu warned that the DPP “is looking in the wrong direction” in terms of its future, arguing that winning majority in the Legislative Yuan would be more important than winning the presidential election.
Citing the DPP’s time in power, Yu said the legislature was the final decisionmaker of national policy, adding that the effort to cultivate grassroots organizations would help the party in the presidential election.
Former DPP lawmaker Lin Cho-shui (林濁水), a founding member known for his advocacy and exposition of Taiwan independence, observed that the basic structure for cross-strait relations in the next 20 years have been set, with the DPP and the KMT enjoying advantages in different aspects.
“The DPP would be trusted to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty and distribute wealth fairly while most people believe the KMT is better at maintaining cross-strait stability and economic exchanges. That won’t change in the next 20 years,” Lin said.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS