In his new book, to be released tomorrow, President Chen Shui-bian (
Yin Chung-wen (
Now the fracas seems to be snowballing, as opposition parties try to use this opportunity to drive a wedge between Chen and former president Lee Teng-hui (
How is such a wide gap possible between what the two sides understand to be a proper transfer of power? There are three possibilities. One, many important meetings and briefings may have been conducted informally in the Presidential Office, without passing through any other government agency. Some of those files may have been taken away as part of Lee's private property. Two, it could be that such files never existed. Much of the policymaking may have been done in secret, through face-to-face communication or hand-written notes. In this case, no minutes of any meeting would have been left behind. Three, it could also be that the files do exist, but problems in the way the records were made and filed kept people from finding them.
In the first scenario, the blame would go to the previous government, which should keep records of anything that has to do with national policy, no matter how secret, sensitive or informal they are. Such records are not private property and should not be taken from the Presidential Office.
In the second and third scenarios, the Presidential Office is at fault, apparently not knowing how to make, compile, file and store dossiers. There might be a need to boost the awareness of public officials on the need to keep important records, as well as the need for a good filing system.
In fact, part of the problem could be a lack of proper regulation. The NSC, initially an extra-legal entity, was recognized in the Constitution in 1994, but has never been regulated under law. As for the issue that Chen is particularly concerned about, ie, the "special state-to-state" model, a study was still being conducted under then NSC consultant Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) when Lee articulated the policy during an interview with the Voice of Germany radio station on July 9, 1999. The study has yet to be completed. Naturally, Chen wouldn't have seen files on the -- as yet -- unsettled policy.
The fact that Chen has written a book complaining of a lack of files 500 days after the transition is a sign of poor communications within the government. Yin is now a senior advisor to the president and works in the Presidential Office. Chen could have asked Yin about missing files at any time.
In Taiwan's first transition of political power, the lack of the dossier handover was not a major problem because many top government officials were not replaced at the time of the takeover, while others were simply replaced with officials from other government agencies. But this is no excuse for not setting up a proper system for the transition of power.
Now that the National Archives Law has been enacted, the government should work to set up regulations for implementation so that proper procedures for the disposition of important government documents is clearly spelled out and de-politicized.
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
During the “426 rally” organized by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party under the slogan “fight green communism, resist dictatorship,” leaders from the two opposition parties framed it as a battle against an allegedly authoritarian administration led by President William Lai (賴清德). While criticism of the government can be a healthy expression of a vibrant, pluralistic society, and protests are quite common in Taiwan, the discourse of the 426 rally nonetheless betrayed troubling signs of collective amnesia. Specifically, the KMT, which imposed 38 years of martial law in Taiwan from 1949 to 1987, has never fully faced its
RSS