How fascinating it is to see the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), long sniped at over its supposed Hoklo chauvinism, teaming up with a principal Hakka powerbroker to craft an outlandish election result that will serve both interests: a Hakka member of the DPP in the county commissioner's seat in Miaoli.
Miaoli County, a Hakka stronghold, has long been a DPP graveyard. Even in last year's presidential election, which saw the DPP vote jump by a remarkable 12.5 percent, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) only managed to secure 39.25 percent of the total vote. In the legislature, the DPP has had to settle for one out of four representatives at best. And the county government has been dominated for eight years by independent County Commissioner Fu Hsueh-peng (傅學鵬), who achieved consecutive election wins in 1997 and 2001 with more than 50 percent of the vote.
After a period of grim electoral fortunes, taking Miaoli County would be a big boost to the party's morale and the presidential ambitions of DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (
But while Miaoli County offers enticing prospects for the DPP, Nantou County presents a bleaker assessment of the party's ability to capitalize on its strengths at the very moments it must do so.
Former DPP legislator and caucus whip Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) is the party's candidate for the Nantou poll. Although only 45, he has a lot of experience in campaigning and party strategy. He is also ambitious.
But unlike the most powerful figures in the DPP, Tsai does not have the prize that would catapult him to the next level of power within the party: experience in regional governance. Hence his need to return to his troubled home county for a crack at the commissioner's post.
The problem is that doing this interferes with the career plans of DPP Nantou County Commissioner Lin Tsung-nan (
By flying in the face of party rules, Lin joins an insalubrious list of former DPP champions and media darlings whose ambitions could never be restrained within the confines of party discipline.
Thus the pragmatism and shifting loyalties that may reward the DPP in Miaoli could also cost it dearly in Nantou. The party may prey on disaffected opponents to cut into KMT territory, but until it is able to inculcate principles other than self-aggrandizement in its own representatives and nourish a greater sense of loyalty to the party and the nation, then it will continue to short-change its members and struggle for credibility among undecided voters -- who now determine all of the critical election results in this country.
With escalating US-China competition and mutual distrust, the trend of supply chain “friend shoring” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fragmentation of the world into rival geopolitical blocs, many analysts and policymakers worry the world is retreating into a new cold war — a world of trade bifurcation, protectionism and deglobalization. The world is in a new cold war, said Robin Niblett, former director of the London-based think tank Chatham House. Niblett said he sees the US and China slowly reaching a modus vivendi, but it might take time. The two great powers appear to be “reversing carefully
As China steps up a campaign to diplomatically isolate and squeeze Taiwan, it has become more imperative than ever that Taipei play a greater role internationally with the support of the democratic world. To help safeguard its autonomous status, Taiwan needs to go beyond bolstering its defenses with weapons like anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles. With the help of its international backers, it must also expand its diplomatic footprint globally. But are Taiwan’s foreign friends willing to translate their rhetoric into action by helping Taipei carve out more international space for itself? Beating back China’s effort to turn Taiwan into an international pariah
Typhoon Krathon made landfall in southwestern Taiwan last week, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and flooding, cutting power to more than 170,000 homes and water supply to more than 400,000 homes, and leading to more than 600 injuries and four deaths. Due to the typhoon, schools and offices across the nation were ordered to close for two to four days, stirring up familiar controversies over whether local governments’ decisions to call typhoon days were appropriate. The typhoon’s center made landfall in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) at noon on Thursday, but it weakened into a tropical depression early on Friday, and its structure
Taiwan is facing multiple economic challenges due to internal and external pressures. Internal challenges include energy transition, upgrading industries, a declining birthrate and an aging population. External challenges are technology competition between the US and China, international supply chain restructuring and global economic uncertainty. All of these issues complicate Taiwan’s economic situation. Taiwan’s reliance on fossil fuel imports not only threatens the stability of energy supply, but also goes against the global trend of carbon reduction. The government should continue to promote renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, as well as energy storage technology, to diversify energy supply. It
RSS