Can Taiwan's elections really be won by trickery? Why is it that, as soon as an election heats up, everyone tries to sully their opponent's reputation through innuendo, fact-twisting and vulgar personality attacks? Quite a few people in the KMT and the People First Party are fond of uttering the phrase "elections are temporary, friends are forever." But this, too, is simply subterfuge.
Since the people of Taiwan obtained the freedom of speech following the lifting of martial law, irresponsible politicians have abused their legislative immunity in the Legislative Yuan, wantonly engaging in malicious character assassination. For example, the legislative reform proposals made by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) on behalf of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU, 台聯) are closely aligned with what opinion polls show the people want. However, as soon as KMT candidates heard that Lee made the proposals, they started putting their spin on the issues through the pro-China media and taking every opportunity to try to embarrass Lee.
Another example is the brouhaha surrounding President Chen Shui-bian's (
Power transfers in most countries take place by means of a task force composed of members of both incoming and outgoing administrations. The incumbent leader usually has little to do personally with the process. Thus, if a problem like what Chen described occurred, it would seem that the first thing to do is ask the people who handled the transition about it. But opposition politicians have never let a little thing such as fact-checking stop them before -- so they were more than willing to pounce on Lee.
PFP Chairman James Soong (
What's so pathetic about the election process in Taiwan is that it has come to be defined by the public as simply a war of words between candidates that has little to do with everyday life. Such a contemptuous perspective stems from the fact that most candidates, as well as their parties, are unwilling to seriously examine the public's difficulties and come up with sound political policies, or to challenge other candidates' platforms based on fact rather than character assassination or to even to risk publicly debating their plans and views. Instead, they simply resort to the usual the tools of cowards -- rumor-mongering through the media.
However, the media must also share some of the blame for the ethical morass that is politics in Taiwan. The media should stop allowing itself to be used as a tool by candidates, stop the selective reporting of favorites and instead focus on providing a balanced assessment of the candidates, the parties and the issues.
Taiwan's political system has been characterized for too long by the charlatans and gangsters who have bought their way into the legislature and social respectability. Only by reforming the legislature and the legislative election system can the people of Taiwan at last have a political system worthy of their aspirations and responsive to their needs.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS