People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
The problem is that with officials such as Schriver, Soong is walking into the lion's den. The topic of the arms budget is certain to arise, for this is an issue that greatly concerns the Americans. And the PFP has been aggressively opposed to the arms procurement deal in the legislature.
So, will Soong's meetings with US officials be an opportunity for him to complain about Chen, or will he have to explain to the US why the PFP is opposed to the arms procurement deal?
It remains to be seen what the US thinks about a DPP-PFP collaboration and whether they will act as a guarantor between the two parties to stabilize the relationship. The two parties might even sign an interim agreement endorsed by US to ensure that the DPP does not abandon the PFP after they find the PFP is no longer useful. This would enhance the strategic appeal of cooperation for the PFP. But before any of this can happen, Soong must first clearly state his position on the arms procurement deal.
Recently a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) delegation departed for Beijing to hold talks with Chinese officials over cross-strait charter flights for the Lunar New Year. While the PFP legislators were also invited to join the delegation led by the KMT, they did not show any interest in participating. Conversely, Soong would rather go to Washington with the PFP's cross-strait peace-advancement bill, suggesting that the PFP is avoiding the KMT at this juncture, and that it is also likely to steer clear of Beijing. Beijing might well wonder if the PFP is moving to a position of favoring the US and distancing itself from China, and is preparing to shoulder the responsibility of leading the Committee for Cross-Strait Peace and Development (
Once a DPP-PFP collaboration looks like a real possibility, it won't matter how many KMT legislators approach Beijing. If the extreme ends of the political spectrum in Taiwan can collaborate, the KMT will be marginalized and Beijing will be dealing with a new coalition that has obvious strategic superiority.
What would be the international impact of a DPP-PFP coalition? As for the arms procurement deal, the US has a way in now that the DPP and the PFP are moving closer together. And with Soong playing the leading role in the cross-strait issue, this opens up new possibilities in cross-strait relations. Beijing has not been able to come to grips with the political effects of a possible DPP-PFP collaboration and continues to push its anti-secession legislation. They have targeted Chen as an unreliable political figure, but have ignored the crucial role Soong could play. At this juncture, a DPP-PFP collaboration would have considerable flexibility.
No matter what form DPP-PFP collaboration takes, the possibility of such cooperation is already having an international impact. Soong has placed himself back in the political limelight and Chen has greatly widened the horizons of his historical legacy. This might turn out to be a comedy about two political rivals saving each other, even if the whole thing turns out to be a tragedy for the pan-blue camp. Lien has to concede that although Soong had time to fly to the US, he hasn't had time to send his regards.
Hsu Yung-ming is an assistant research fellow at the Sun Yat-sen Institute for Social Sciences and Philosophy at Academia Sinica.
TRANSLATED BY DANIEL CHENG
The government and local industries breathed a sigh of relief after Shin Kong Life Insurance Co last week said it would relinquish surface rights for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) to Nvidia Corp. The US chip-design giant’s plan to expand its local presence will be crucial for Taiwan to safeguard its core role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem and to advance the nation’s AI development. The land in dispute is owned by the Taipei City Government, which in 2021 sold the rights to develop and use the two plots of land, codenamed T17 and T18, to the
Taiwan’s first case of African swine fever (ASF) was confirmed on Tuesday evening at a hog farm in Taichung’s Wuci District (梧棲), trigging nationwide emergency measures and stripping Taiwan of its status as the only Asian country free of classical swine fever, ASF and foot-and-mouth disease, a certification it received on May 29. The government on Wednesday set up a Central Emergency Operations Center in Taichung and instituted an immediate five-day ban on transporting and slaughtering hogs, and on feeding pigs kitchen waste. The ban was later extended to 15 days, to account for the incubation period of the virus
The ceasefire in the Middle East is a rare cause for celebration in that war-torn region. Hamas has released all of the living hostages it captured on Oct. 7, 2023, regular combat operations have ceased, and Israel has drawn closer to its Arab neighbors. Israel, with crucial support from the United States, has achieved all of this despite concerted efforts from the forces of darkness to prevent it. Hamas, of course, is a longtime client of Iran, which in turn is a client of China. Two years ago, when Hamas invaded Israel — killing 1,200, kidnapping 251, and brutalizing countless others
US President Donald Trump has announced his eagerness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un while in South Korea for the APEC summit. That implies a possible revival of US-North Korea talks, frozen since 2019. While some would dismiss such a move as appeasement, renewed US engagement with North Korea could benefit Taiwan’s security interests. The long-standing stalemate between Washington and Pyongyang has allowed Beijing to entrench its dominance in the region, creating a myth that only China can “manage” Kim’s rogue nation. That dynamic has allowed Beijing to present itself as an indispensable power broker: extracting concessions from Washington, Seoul
RSS