Saturday’s by-elections in Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung saw the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) win in both special municipalities. Opinions on the results vary, but they can be summarized by saying that the governing party has too high an opinion of itself and its policies are out of touch with public opinion.
Ever since the Lunar New Year, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), government departments and media outlets with close links to the party have raved on about a “perceptible” economic recovery as opposed to a “jobless” recovery.
Certain media outlets have been playing up news about how much money Chinese tourists are spending in Taiwan and how much money Taiwanese businesses are spending on their annual banquets to paint a pretty picture of the economic situation.
However, most people’s salaries have been stagnant for years, while commodity prices have continued to rise. As a result people have less money to spend and they are dissatisfied.
If you ask your friends and relatives about this, most of them will probably tell you they are dissatisfied with what’s going on. The Ministry of the Interior recently announced that while Taiwan’s economic growth exceeded 10 percent last year, for the first time, more than 110,000 households — 273,000 people — are living below the poverty line. This clearly shows how the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing.
Now, let’s look at the recent hike in commodity prices. While this was mostly caused by an international imbalance in the supply and demand for raw materials, it was also aggravated by individuals.
While the government has declared that it would come down hard and heavily punish anyone involved in hoarding, and based on past experience the government was all hot air when it came to dealing with middlemen making exorbitant profits from selling agricultural products.
The price of fertilizer has also increased, adding to the burden of farmers and causing some to wonder whether certain businesses are involved in hoarding.
The government vowed to closely investigate the matter and hand out strict punishment, but all it did in the end was arrest a few minor players so it could say it had fulfilled its duties. These past incidents have caused the public to doubt the government’s ability and accountability.
In fact, the economic and trade achievements that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration are so proud of are a direct result of China’s attempts to pander to Taiwan. What’s more, the majority of those who have benefited are large corporations and businesses.
This has had the effect of increasing the relative deprivation that people feel and this is certain to cost the current administration in future.
The good thing about democracies is that people can change their political leaders without having to resort to violence. The results of the latest by-elections are definitely a warning for the KMT and we will have to see what reforms and actions it adopts from here on to see if it has a chance to hang on to power.
As for the DPP, the results were definitely a form of encouragement, but if the party gets caught up in a power struggle and infighting, things will not be good for it either, as we have seen in the past. It will indeed be interesting to see the result of the battle between the two sides.
Lee Wu-chung is a professor of agricultural economics at National Taiwan University.
TRANSLATED BY DREW CAMERON
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