Military servicemen are professionals in legal violence. Because these people have the professional knowledge and capability to use violence, contemporary political systems, either communist or democratic, tend to have political parties or civilians in charge of the army to prevent the military from running out of control, from failing to serve political purposes and from expanding its own power.
Taiwan's military has successfully democratized and nationalized over the past decade. Open-minded military officers such as Defense Minister Tang Fei (
Unfortunately, since Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was elected as Taiwan's next president, many conventional-thinking officers have declined to accept a president from the opposition party. They have made inappropriate remarks, as if they were still in the "party-military era" (黨軍時代). As a matter of fact, as long as the Constitution is amended through democratic and legal procedures, no matter what change is called for, even claiming independence or unifying with China, all military servicemen must defend the outcome and obey the Constitution.
Therefore, the unchangeable faith -- loyally defending the Constitution as well as its spirit, and the systems and leaders it creates -- not changeable values, such as anti-independence or anti-unification, should be inculcated in the military.
Scholars such as Samuel Huntington believe that the military's loyalty to the leadership of civilian government is the premise of political stability and development. In view of the military's immature nationalization, Chen invited Tang to head the cabinet. Chen's difficult situation deserves our understanding.
From a wider perspective, Chen has made the decision for the country's stability. And Tang is both in favor of democracy as well as being a professional military officer. We should show our consent, not suspicion, to the appointment.
Pu Ta-chung is chief editor of the China Times.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has offered Taiwan a paradoxical mix of reassurance and risk. Trump’s visceral hostility toward China could reinforce deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. Yet his disdain for alliances and penchant for transactional bargaining threaten to erode what Taiwan needs most: a reliable US commitment. Taiwan’s security depends less on US power than on US reliability, but Trump is undermining the latter. Deterrence without credibility is a hollow shield. Trump’s China policy in his second term has oscillated wildly between confrontation and conciliation. One day, he threatens Beijing with “massive” tariffs and calls China America’s “greatest geopolitical
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made the astonishing assertion during an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle, published on Friday last week, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. She also essentially absolved Putin of blame for initiating the war in Ukraine. Commentators have since listed the reasons that Cheng’s assertion was not only absurd, but bordered on dangerous. Her claim is certainly absurd to the extent that there is no need to discuss the substance of it: It would be far more useful to assess what drove her to make the point and stick so
The central bank has launched a redesign of the New Taiwan dollar banknotes, prompting questions from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — “Are we not promoting digital payments? Why spend NT$5 billion on a redesign?” Many assume that cash will disappear in the digital age, but they forget that it represents the ultimate trust in the system. Banknotes do not become obsolete, they do not crash, they cannot be frozen and they leave no record of transactions. They remain the cleanest means of exchange in a free society. In a fully digitized world, every purchase, donation and action leaves behind data.
US President Donald Trump’s seemingly throwaway “Taiwan is Taiwan” statement has been appearing in headlines all over the media. Although it appears to have been made in passing, the comment nevertheless reveals something about Trump’s views and his understanding of Taiwan’s situation. In line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the US and Taiwan enjoy unofficial, but close economic, cultural and national defense ties. They lack official diplomatic relations, but maintain a partnership based on shared democratic values and strategic alignment. Excluding China, Taiwan maintains a level of diplomatic relations, official or otherwise, with many nations worldwide. It can be said that
RSS