The DPP has finally had a change of luck. It has had the opportunity to slap James Soong (
It was Soong and Liu Tai-ying (
Liu, who is notorious for the almost magical feats he could perform with money, even cast his spell over Hsu Hsin-liang (
This move deprived the DPP of its sense of direction. Although under siege, the DPP managed to keep going because of support from an idealistic political elite. But due to a lack of political and economic resources, the DPP has been blocked on all fronts by people such as Soong and Liu. Through-out this period, the DPP, unable to either move forward or backward, was left in an extremely embarrassing position.
The Soong financial scandal has exposed Soong's true nature. However, is it possible that no one in Taiwan smelled a rat before this?
However, Soong, with his excellent media connections and by enlisting the help of certain DPP politicians, has disguised his sins and created an appealing public image. He has even able to portray himself as a sage ruler.
Don't forget that before the scandal broke, certain DPP county commissioners and city mayors even referred to Soong as their "old superior" (
Some scholars, who were generally seen as pro-DPP, joined Sisy Chen in praising Soong for being someone with "leadership charisma," and alleged that "a pro-James Soong mentality had replaced the pro-Lee Teng-hui (
Therefore, the dilemma faced by the DPP and its candidate Chen Shui-bian (
As for Hsu and Sisy Chen, who once stood at the heart of the DPP, where are they now? They have become nothing but marginal politicians. It is hard to imagine that, until quite recently, those who showed the slightest discontent with these pro-Soong DPP politicians where, without exception, labeled and sneered at for being stubborn, unaccepting of change and for being Taiwan independence fundamentalists.
Who would have thought that just a few months later, all those who sucked up to Soong have became public enemies.
In the past few years, the two major anti-Lee newspapers have gnashed their teeth in hatred at the mere mention of Lee's name. However, strangely enough, they honored Liu as a "maestro of finance and economics" and portrayed him as cuddly and approachable.
Ever since Lee and Lien Chan (
In any event, the DPP faction that had opposed the pro-Soong position is now finally beginning to sense the melting of the snow and the warmth of spring.
The DPP is apparently coming into its harvest and the fruit is its for the taking. But during this harvest season it is important not to forget the past famine.
Lao Pao is the publisher and president of New Taiwan magazine.
In a stark reminder of China’s persistent territorial overreach, Pema Wangjom Thongdok, a woman from Arunachal Pradesh holding an Indian passport, was detained for 18 hours at Shanghai Pudong Airport on Nov. 24 last year. Chinese immigration officials allegedly informed her that her passport was “invalid” because she was “Chinese,” refusing to recognize her Indian citizenship and claiming Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet. Officials had insisted that Thongdok, an Indian-origin UK resident traveling for a conference, was not Indian despite her valid documents. India lodged a strong diplomatic protest, summoning the Chinese charge d’affaires in Delhi and demanding
Immediately after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) “Justice Mission” exercise at the end of last year, a question was posed to Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal regarding recent developments involving the exercises around Taiwan, and how he viewed their impact on regional peace and stability. His answer was somewhat perplexing to me as a curious student of Taiwanese affairs. “India closely follows developments across the Indo-Pacific region,” he said, adding: “We have an abiding interest in peace and stability in the region, in view of our significant trade, economic, people-to-people, and maritime interests. We urge all concerned
In the past 72 hours, US Senators Roger Wicker, Dan Sullivan and Ruben Gallego took to social media to publicly rebuke the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the defense budget. I understand that Taiwan’s head is on the chopping block, and the urgency of its security situation cannot be overstated. However, the comments from Wicker, Sullivan and Gallego suggest they have fallen victim to a sophisticated disinformation campaign orchestrated by an administration in Taipei that treats national security as a partisan weapon. The narrative fed to our allies claims the opposition is slashing the defense budget to kowtow to the Chinese
In a Taipei Times editorial published almost three years ago (“Macron goes off-piste,” April 13, 2023, page 8), French President Emmanuel Macron was criticized for comments he made immediately after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing. Macron had spoken of the need for his country to find a path on Chinese foreign policy no longer aligned with that of the US, saying that continuing to follow the US agenda would sacrifice the EU’s strategic autonomy. At the time, Macron was criticized for gifting Xi a PR coup, and the editorial said that he had been “persuaded to run
RSS