In the 2000 presidential election, James Soong (
He cited the political situation in South Korea, saying that he intended to stay away from the "ever-changing mood of party competition and cooperation." He believed that both competition and cooperation between parties was nothing more than a game of power distribution. He took a bold attempt to walk on a "supra-partisan" path. He did not choose an "inter-party" alliance.
Soong at that time abandoned the KMT like a pair of worn-out shoes. Because he had no support from his party, he contrived the "supra-partisan" idea as a weapon against the KMT and the DPP. He even claimed that his approach was the true "mainstream of the new century."
Later, Soong formed the PFP, hoping to count on the 4.6 million votes that he had won in order to defeat the KMT in the legislative election at the end of the same year and his "supra-partisan" idea in so doing vanished before our eyes.
As the 2004 presidential election approaches, Soong's prestige wanes, particularly due to the presence of a "natural enemy" like Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). So he has no choice but to turn back and seek cooperation with Lien. He has ditched his "anti-alliance" position.
The most absurd aspect of all this is that the slogan "mainstream of the new century" upon which Soong was so keen to lavish time and attention three years ago, has unexpectedly been revived to describe the old strategy of "inter-party alliance" that he used to denounce, making a mockery of him because he used to talk so glibly about "the third way." Just like the "supra-partisan" idea, the notion of a "high-quality political party" promises to baffle us.
Thanks to people like Soong, the most terrible thing about party politics in this country is that politicians often go to two extremes. On the one hand, they act despicably in every possible way, towards people they consider to be of no use to them. On the other hand, they heap adoration, in every possible way, on people they consider to be of use to them.
Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Grace Shaw
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
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
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
RSS