The KMT-PFP alliance has found a new excuse for demanding direct cross-strait charter flights. On Monday, KMT legislative caucus whip Lee Chia-chin (
Lee said non-official statistics showed that there are around 1 million Taiwanese running businesses in other countries around the world. Around 500,000 of them reside in China on a long-term basis. He said plans are under way to propose a Constitutional amendment to allow absentee voting by overseas Taiwanese. However, since it will be difficult to set up the necessary mechanisms in time for the March election, the KMT called for direct chartered flights to bring the business people home to cast their ballots.
The KMT-PFP alliance will apparently use any excuse to plug direct flights or direct charter flights. Last year, KMT Legislator John Chang (
The notion of direct charter flights is an aphrodisiac for the pan-blue camp; nothing else can get them excited so quickly. What's next? Why not call for charters for the Mid-Autumn Festival, Tomb Sweeping Festival and the Beijing Olympics? With such easy charter flights, what would be the use of the government evaluating direct flights or trying to launch negotiations for such flights? Chartered flights could be run every day. The government and legislation could be set aside.
Taiwanese businesses which have legally invested in China have taken into account the lack of direct transportation links before making an investment. They have factored in the need to travel indirectly across the Taiwan Strait. People working in China can also make up their own minds whether to take time off to return home to vote in the presidential election -- or any other election.
Now the KMT-PFP alliance wants to bring businesspeople back to vote, using charter flights to mobilize the 500,000 Taiwanese in China in order to boost the pan-blue camp's vote count. They seem to have concluded that Taiwanese businesspeople working in China will invariably support their pro-Beijing policy. Will former Tuntex chairman Chen Yu-hao (
The pan-blue camp is a sponsor of thieves, thugs, criminals and collaborators. Even traitors are all right with them. Every time a Chinese spy is caught, legislators from the pan-blue camp always jump up and cry "Green terror!"
Some Taiwanese businesspeople may be unscrupulous and do not care about others, but some may also have a strong national identity despite their investments in China. Those who sympathize with Taiwan will do so even more after seeing the countenance of the Chinese Communist Party. People who really care about their right to vote and the development of Taiwan's democracy are willing to take the time and effort to return home to cast their ballots. Those who value their time and money more won't. There is no reason to spend taxpayer money catering for the second group.
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
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