Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) are determined to visit China. This is the KMT's attempt to reassert control over Taiwan, this time with aid from Beijing.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has denounced this collusion with China and the selling out of the Taiwanese people. This was basically a declaration of war, calling for the people to close ranks against Lien and Soong.
So why should they, as politicians, fly in the face of opinion?
Looked at in the context of Taiwan's history, it is not so difficult to understand. Taiwan has resolved the "historical problem" created by the Chiang family's 50 years of militaristic rule through the exercise of democracy. They have used democracy to counter authoritarianism, and through numerous elections have reduced the KMT's grip on power.
The first step is to declare war on an "alien regime," the second is to break up the political parties that represent it and third, establish Taiwan as an independent entity. This is a long road to travel, and it must be walked one step at a time. The results of the last two presidential elections show that the people's efforts have not been wasted.
The descendants of Chiang family rule -- namely Soong and Lien -- know they have little chance of re-establishing the power of their alien political regime. Their only choice is to sell themselves to China. At its most serious, this is an attempt to use China's power to control Taiwan. At a more egotistical level, they are joining with China to enhance their own political fortunes.
The Chiang family saw Taiwan as a springboard for retaking China. But under the creative shift in direction orchestrated by the KMT and PFP, the springboard now operates in the other direction. By joining with China, the pan-blue camp can throw a spanner in the works of Taiwan's democratization, revenge the destruction of their party and their aspirations. A pilgrimage to China will also diminish Taiwan, thereby diminishing its government. As for the people of Taiwan, as far as the pan-blue camp is concerned, they can go to hell.
The treasonous behavior of Lien and Soong will force the people of Taiwan to take sides. Lee's demand is that we resist the forces that favor China over Taiwan. If Lien and Soong take the bait that China offers, Taiwan will face a clear and present danger. How can the people of Taiwan stand by and do nothing?
Lien and Soong may think they have a done deal, but do they not see that public opinion is arming itself against them? The people will not tolerate China reaching into our backyard, nor will they tolerate an "alien regime" allying with China.
With China's "Anti-Secession" Law and local politicians "joining with China to control Taiwan," what options do the people have? The time has come "to resist the invader and root out traitors."
Chin Heng-wei is editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Ian Bartholomew
The conflict in the Middle East has been disrupting financial markets, raising concerns about rising inflationary pressures and global economic growth. One market that some investors are particularly worried about has not been heavily covered in the news: the private credit market. Even before the joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, global capital markets had faced growing structural pressure — the deteriorating funding conditions in the private credit market. The private credit market is where companies borrow funds directly from nonbank financial institutions such as asset management companies, insurance companies and private lending platforms. Its popularity has risen since
The Donald Trump administration’s approach to China broadly, and to cross-Strait relations in particular, remains a conundrum. The 2025 US National Security Strategy prioritized the defense of Taiwan in a way that surprised some observers of the Trump administration: “Deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority.” Two months later, Taiwan went entirely unmentioned in the US National Defense Strategy, as did military overmatch vis-a-vis China, giving renewed cause for concern. How to interpret these varying statements remains an open question. In both documents, the Indo-Pacific is listed as a second priority behind homeland defense and
Every analyst watching Iran’s succession crisis is asking who would replace supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Yet, the real question is whether China has learned enough from the Persian Gulf to survive a war over Taiwan. Beijing purchases roughly 90 percent of Iran’s exported crude — some 1.61 million barrels per day last year — and holds a US$400 billion, 25-year cooperation agreement binding it to Tehran’s stability. However, this is not simply the story of a patron protecting an investment. China has spent years engineering a sanctions-evasion architecture that was never really about Iran — it was about Taiwan. The
In an op-ed published in Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said that Taiwan should not have to choose between aligning with Beijing or Washington, and advocated for cooperation with Beijing under the so-called “1992 consensus” as a form of “strategic ambiguity.” However, Cheng has either misunderstood the geopolitical reality and chosen appeasement, or is trying to fool an international audience with her doublespeak; nonetheless, it risks sending the wrong message to Taiwan’s democratic allies and partners. Cheng stressed that “Taiwan does not have to choose,” as while Beijing and Washington compete, Taiwan is strongest when
RSS