It has long been apparent that the People First Party's (PFP) agenda has nothing to do with serving the interests of this country. So the question becomes this: Whose interests does the party serve?
It would be easy to write off the PFP as a personality cult designed to flatter the voracious ego and dangerous political ambitions of its chairman, James Soong (
But watching the PFP's legislative caucus this week, it becomes clear that there is another agenda behind the party's actions.
There has been much speculation on a secret deal between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the PFP last week. Reportedly, this backroom deal involved the PFP blocking a bill on stolen assets designed to divest the KMT of its illicit wealth, while the KMT agreed to block a supplemental budget that would have made a token gesture at procuring several major weapons packages from the US.
The KMT did indeed block the arms bill, but the PFP did not attempt to block the stolen assets bill. Whether or not there had been a secret agreement, it was clear from the reaction of Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
So whose interests would be served by the PFP betraying its erstwhile ally? Who has something to gain by keeping Taiwan as defenseless as possible and trying to exacerbate political divisions?
The clear answer, of course, is China.
Look at the way the PFP has thrown itself into the campaign to oust President Chen Shui-bian (
And on Double Ten National Day, which party's members caused the greatest disturbance, becoming violent and screaming "depose Chen"? Why, the PFP's, of course.
Given that the anti-Chen campaign has not been transparent with its finances, the obvious confluence of interest behind its ultimate goals and Beijing's ultimate goals for Taiwan, and given that several of its senior organizers have been traveling to China during the course of the campaign, there is a compelling case to be made.
And that case is that the real power behind the scenes is not Shih Ming-teh (
The PFP has stood beside these actions all the way, and no one in Taiwan should have any illusions about where Soong's sympathies lie. Just think back to last year, when he was greeted lovingly by the CCP during his tour of China.
So when members of the KMT act all surprised that their good old friend Soong and his pals would have the audacity to betray them all over again, one can only think: "What did you expect? You're dealing with a snake-oil salesman who has undermined his country's security and democratic development."
Whatever the KMT wants for Taiwan, it is difficult to see how placing further trust in Soong will achieve those goals. His party is composed of a bunch of extremists and lacks real clout.
The time has come for the KMT to marginalize the PFP, cut it off, then watch it die.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017