Not taking it anymore
Your articles on Oct. 18 all point to the same thing. The aging Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime in Taiwan does not have the best interests of Taiwan in mind.
Mac Bishop's article ("A worrying disparity in strategic flexibility," page 9) points to a military that, after President Chen Shui-bian's (
The letter by Jonathan Brody (Letters, page 8) shows that the KMT regime, in order to shore up its own illegitimate rule in Taiwan, tried to use Taiwanese tax dollars to buy illegitimate friends.
Taiwan's problems are not just political. Everything, including the economic situation, has been very deeply affected by the long years of KMT rule -- the military, the bureaucracy, diplomacy, education, culture, national identity and national priorities -- you name it.
All are the result of a regime that does not have the best interests of Taiwan or the Taiwanese people in mind.
Only the re-election of Chen can continue the reforms that started three-and-a-half years ago.
But more importantly, the Taiwanese people, bureaucrats, diplomats and the military should know that they are not getting their old boss back, that the Taiwan-first policy isn't just talk, and that the Taiwanese are not going to take it anymore.
Chen Ming-chung
Chicago, Illinois
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
It is being said every second day: The ongoing recall campaign in Taiwan — where citizens are trying to collect enough signatures to trigger re-elections for a number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — is orchestrated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), or even President William Lai (賴清德) himself. The KMT makes the claim, and foreign media and analysts repeat it. However, they never show any proof — because there is not any. It is alarming how easily academics, journalists and experts toss around claims that amount to accusing a democratic government of conspiracy — without a shred of evidence. These
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
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