President-elect Ma Ying-jeou (
The people of Taiwan -- who gave Ma 58.45 percent of their votes against 41.55 percent for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rival Frank Hsieh (
Many Taiwanese might also have decided to vote for Ma because they were fed up with corruption scandals and government bickering between legislative and executive branches, but admittedly the election results shows they were more concerned about their salaries and living standard.
On Saturday night, Ma made his first move by saying that his first priority would be to establish direct air links with China and allow more Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan.
During his campaign, Ma promised to establish a "cross-strait common market," or as his rivals labeled it, a "one China market." But it will take more than a decade to turn this idea into reality because it involves talks across the Taiwan Strait that would certainly touch on the sensitive sovereign status issue on which neither side is likely to concede.
There is also the question of when and how China would want to work with the new Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government on these matters -- the ball is in Beijing's court, not Taipei's.
Ma's real priority should be forming a Cabinet that is both professional and capable of dealing with the nation's immediate economic problems, especially the issue of rising consumer prices.
The DDP government has tried to intervene in the market through a series of price-control measures, including freezing both energy and utility prices in the wake of recent dramatic fluctuations in global commodity and raw material prices.
Although these price controls were aimed at easing the import-driven inflation facing this nation, they have also resulted in growing losses at state-run energy and utility companies.
It is easy to say that the caps on fuel prices, for example, are unfair for all taxpayers because people who drive cars are generally more financially capable of coping with inflation. The problem is how the new government wants to address this issue: Will it scrap the controls on fuel prices or impose an energy tax to curb consumption?
During their campaign, Ma and Hsieh both advocated closer economic links with China, despite differences in their approaches. But Taiwan and China have experienced completely different industrial structure and investment environments over the past eight years. Many Taiwanese businesspeople who left for China eight years ago are now trying to relocate elsewhere because of China's new labor and tax laws.
Ma now faces the test of whether his economic policies can safeguard the interests of overseas Taiwanese businesspeople, while improving Taiwan's investment environment and increasing domestic consumption.
Other problems such as unbalanced regional development in Taiwan, the growing gap between the rich and the poor and the demise of local agricultural sector will also pose challenges to Ma's government.
Problems such as a slowing US economy and global financial woes, however, will always have a negative impact on Taiwan's export-oriented economy, which the new government will also need to be prepared to handle.
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
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
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
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS