It is ironic that what might be the only positive result of Friday's political theatrics was unintended. That is, of course, the KMT's withdrawal of approval for Vincent Siew (
The decision to cancel the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant was taken by Chen and Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
The greatest puzzlement concerns why Chen did what he did. After all, he had been trying for nearly three months to meet with Lien as the KMT chairman played hard to get. The ostensible reason for the meeting was to try to reach some kind of consensus on policy and ease the standoff between the Executive and Legislative Yuans. Yet if anything could have made that situation worse, it was Chen's behavior on Friday. It might be said in Chen's defense that if the meeting with Lien showed anything at all it was the huge extent to which the positions of the DPP and KMT on most major issues are irreconcilable; nothing, therefore, was lost. But this is being wise after the event. The planning of the timing of the nuclear plant decision appears as an affront to Lien calculated days in advance. What would have happened, we wonder, had Lien, at the meeting, been more amenable to striking a deal with Chen?
It is hard to imagine a thaw in DPP-KMT relations until well into next year, at the end of which a legislative election looms. Much of the talk from the KMT of some kind of action against Chen is empty. The KMT, New Party and PFP combined lack the strength in the legislature to force through a recall of the president and the KMT is unlikely to support a vote of no-confidence in the Cabinet since it will lead to a snap legislative election at which it will get thrashed. That leaves the budget, which the KMT's strength in the legislature turns into a useful weapon. But will the KMT have the guts to use it? Will Chen follow the example of Bill Clinton and close down the government? It is hard to see how the generally confrontation-averse Taiwanese would reward him for that.
Chen's behavior seems high-handed. It reminds us of the reputation for high-handedness he gained as Taipei mayor and the way in which this was eventually punished at the polls. Worse still, he appears to have acted out of party dogmatism, rather than because there is a clear public consensus on the fate of the power plant. Chen has shown himself unafraid to make a raw exercise of power. But he hasn't shown that he is in touch with or responsive to the public mood.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long been expansionist and contemptuous of international law. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the CCP regime has become more despotic, coercive and punitive. As part of its strategy to annex Taiwan, Beijing has sought to erase the island democracy’s international identity by bribing countries to sever diplomatic ties with Taipei. One by one, China has peeled away Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic partners, leaving just 12 countries (mostly small developing states) and the Vatican recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign nation. Taiwan’s formal international space has shrunk dramatically. Yet even as Beijing has scored diplomatic successes, its overreach
For Taiwan, the ongoing US and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets are a warning signal: When a major power stretches the boundaries of self-defense, smaller states feel the tremors first. Taiwan’s security rests on two pillars: US deterrence and the credibility of international law. The first deters coercion from China. The second legitimizes Taiwan’s place in the international community. One is material. The other is moral. Both are indispensable. Under the UN Charter, force is lawful only in response to an armed attack or with UN Security Council authorization. Even pre-emptive self-defense — long debated — requires a demonstrably imminent
Since being re-elected, US President Donald Trump has consistently taken concrete action to counter China and to safeguard the interests of the US and other democratic nations. The attacks on Iran, the earlier capture of deposed of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and efforts to remove Chinese influence from the Panama Canal all demonstrate that, as tensions with Beijing intensify, Washington has adopted a hardline stance aimed at weakening its power. Iran and Venezuela are important allies and major oil suppliers of China, and the US has effectively decapitated both. The US has continuously strengthened its military presence in the Philippines. Japanese Prime
After “Operation Absolute Resolve” to capture former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, the US joined Israel on Saturday last week in launching “Operation Epic Fury” to remove Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his theocratic regime leadership team. The two blitzes are widely believed to be a prelude to US President Donald Trump changing the geopolitical landscape in the Indo-Pacific region, targeting China’s rise. In the National Security Strategic report released in December last year, the Trump administration made it clear that the US would focus on “restoring American pre-eminence in the Western hemisphere,” and “competing with China economically and militarily
RSS