Another tempest in a teapot, more political hypocrisy -- has there ever been a politician in Taiwan willing to stand on principles when their personal interests are challenged?
Former interior minister Chang Po-ya (
Newspapers and TV call-in shows pounced on the story, turning their guns on the DPP and TSU. The accusations from Chang and people like KMT Legislator Li Chia-chin (
However, Chang and Li were not so willing to tell their stories once prosecutors launched an investigation. Both played hide-and-seek with prosecutors for several days -- until the prosecutors threatened to ask the courts to issue summons to them. When Chang and Li finally showed up at the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office on Wednesday, they had changed their stories, saying that they had merely overheard allegations of vote-buying. After leaving the prosecutors' office Chang told reporters that she had never said she saw people buying or selling votes inside the legislature. She had only said "one of us" had seen it. Li, in turn, said his responsibility was only to blow the whistle and that looking for evidence was the prosecutor's job.
Such irresponsible sophistry and groundless claims are not just ludicrous -- they are libelous. Chang has seriously damaged her career with this mud-slinging vendetta. If she has an axe to grind, it should be with the opposition parties which had promised to support her nomination. Chang lost, by one vote, because both the KMT and the PFP banned their lawmakers from the legislative floor that day to prevent them from voting for Yao.
As an independent, Chang's political career has always been a balancing act between the DPP and the KMT. Chang's political support stems largely from the admiration and respect for her mother, Hsu Shih-hsien (
How disappointing to see how low Hsu's daughter has fallen that she would stoop to such slander. It would appear that her years of power and privilege have gone to her head. The public has learned to expect little more than such outlandish comments from KMT politicians and lawmakers, but such actions should be condemned nevertheless. The same can't be said of Chang. Both Chang and Li should publicly apologize for their false accusations and for creating yet another divisive scandal.
On Sept. 3 in Tiananmen Square, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) rolled out a parade of new weapons in PLA service that threaten Taiwan — some of that Taiwan is addressing with added and new military investments and some of which it cannot, having to rely on the initiative of allies like the United States. The CCP’s goal of replacing US leadership on the global stage was advanced by the military parade, but also by China hosting in Tianjin an August 31-Sept. 1 summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which since 2001 has specialized
In an article published by the Harvard Kennedy School, renowned historian of modern China Rana Mitter used a structured question-and-answer format to deepen the understanding of the relationship between Taiwan and China. Mitter highlights the differences between the repressive and authoritarian People’s Republic of China and the vibrant democracy that exists in Taiwan, saying that Taiwan and China “have had an interconnected relationship that has been both close and contentious at times.” However, his description of the history — before and after 1945 — contains significant flaws. First, he writes that “Taiwan was always broadly regarded by the imperial dynasties of
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