The opposition camp often jeers at President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), saying that he looks more like a presidential candidate than a president, given that he so frequently bases his decisions on considerations for the next election. However, this is really a matter of the pot calling the kettle black, since the opposition has long since started campaigning for the presidential election.
The kneeling act of PFP chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) during Taipei's mayoral election campaign stirred a great deal of conjecture. Observers have good reason to believe that Soong's act was meant to give the KMT some face and appease Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) -- whose popularity appears to be soaring -- in the hope that Ma might not compete against him for the top job in 2004.
Even though KMT-PFP cooperation has become the pan-blue camp's key note in the run-up to 2004, the question of who will run for president has caused much consternation in the KMT. The endless backroom maneuvers and rumors coming from the party's aristocrats now make for the most intriguing show in Taiwan's political arena.
First came former Kaohsiung mayor and ex-KMT legislator Wu Den-yih
Recently, KMT Legislator John Chang
It is no wonder that, during a speech last weekend, former president Lee Teng-hui
One after another, these middle-aged politicians have denied they have any presidential ambitions. We do not know whether these rumors were part of party chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) pre-emptive strategy for subduing potential rivals, or whether any KMT politicians of a younger generation are in fact quietly building the momentum for a presidential ticket.
The dark maneuvers in the KMT also remind one of what happened within the DPP in the run-up to the 2000 election. Former party chairman Hsu Hsin-liang
In his pursuit of the presidential dream, Hsu ran as an independent candidate and did not hesitate to team up with then New Party Legislator Josephine Chu (朱惠良), so as to seek the support of his erstwhile opponents in the New Party.
That the presidential ambitions of a politician could cause a DPP man -- one who had advocated Taiwan's independence for all those years -- to make such an about face overnight and make friends with the New Party, makes a big joke of all he had stood for.
This makes one wonder whether there is anything more worthy of pursuit in Taiwan's political arena than becoming president. Politicians motivated by their own personal ambitions instead of the people's welfare will be dumped by voters. The 2004 election will attest to that.
George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This article will help readers avoid repeating mistakes by examining four examples from the civil war between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces and the Republic of China (ROC) forces that involved two city sieges and two island invasions. The city sieges compared are Changchun (May to October 1948) and Beiping (November 1948 to January 1949, renamed Beijing after its capture), and attempts to invade Kinmen (October 1949) and Hainan (April 1950). Comparing and contrasting these examples, we can learn how Taiwan may prevent a war with
A recent trio of opinion articles in this newspaper reflects the growing anxiety surrounding Washington’s reported request for Taiwan to shift up to 50 percent of its semiconductor production abroad — a process likely to take 10 years, even under the most serious and coordinated effort. Simon H. Tang (湯先鈍) issued a sharp warning (“US trade threatens silicon shield,” Oct. 4, page 8), calling the move a threat to Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” which he argues deters aggression by making Taiwan indispensable. On the same day, Hsiao Hsi-huei (蕭錫惠) (“Responding to US semiconductor policy shift,” Oct. 4, page 8) focused on
Taiwan is rapidly accelerating toward becoming a “super-aged society” — moving at one of the fastest rates globally — with the proportion of elderly people in the population sharply rising. While the demographic shift of “fewer births than deaths” is no longer an anomaly, the nation’s legal framework and social customs appear stuck in the last century. Without adjustments, incidents like last month’s viral kicking incident on the Taipei MRT involving a 73-year-old woman would continue to proliferate, sowing seeds of generational distrust and conflict. The Senior Citizens Welfare Act (老人福利法), originally enacted in 1980 and revised multiple times, positions older
Nvidia Corp’s plan to build its new headquarters at the Beitou Shilin Science Park’s T17 and T18 plots has stalled over a land rights dispute, prompting the Taipei City Government to propose the T12 plot as an alternative. The city government has also increased pressure on Shin Kong Life Insurance Co, which holds the development rights for the T17 and T18 plots. The proposal is the latest by the city government over the past few months — and part of an ongoing negotiation strategy between the two sides. Whether Shin Kong Life Insurance backs down might be the key factor
RSS