At a democracy forum in Taipei on Sunday last week hosted by the Taiwan Forever Association legal reform group, Transitional Justice Commission Deputy Chairman Sun Pin (孫斌) said that failure to properly implement transitional justice would lead to a regression of democracy.
Sun was largely concerned with the use of terms by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that are designed to confuse people about the efficacy and intended results of Taiwan’s democratic processes with a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidency.
Allegations by KMT lawmakers that the DPP is authoritarian with a patina of democracy are laughable, if not concerning, coming from a party that was responsible for decades of torture and political persecution during the White Terror era.
The KMT, which is reeling from successive defeats in failed referendum drives and recall campaigns, is aware of the shadow cast over it by the White Terror era. This is why it has resorted to unsubstantiated attacks on the DPP, even saying that the current administration is overseeing a “Green terror” era.
The KMT said it backed the four referendum proposals in the public interest and its stance would be validated through the democratic process. When the process invalidated its claims, rather than acknowledging its errors, the party went on the offensive and talked as though the very democratic processes it had been championing were a hustle.
Obviously, the KMT is not deceiving anyone, but that is not its intention. It is incapable of raising itself to the level of its adversary, so it seeks to drag the DPP down to its level.
Referring to the KMT’s criticism, Sun said: “The result is that the meanings of terms such as ‘White Terror’ become muddled, and those guilty of injustices escape responsibility. The public grows distrustful of all government and believes that all parties are equally incorrigible.”
The DPP has made great headway in developing ties with like-minded democracies, while the KMT — dissatisfied with not being the captain of the ship — would rather see it sink. If not, why did it put so much effort into attempts to reimpose or maintain bans on Japanese and US food imports, risking Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and going against the majority opinion of the public? Why did it speak so critically of the diplomatic breakthrough that defined Lithuania’s establishment of a “Taiwan” office?
In the face of challenges to what was in the best interest of Taiwanese, the New Power Party, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and independent lawmakers worked with the DPP during the referendum and recall drives, while the KMT worked against the pan-green coalition and the majority of Taiwanese.
What other schemes might the KMT — which continues to push an unpopular unification agenda — invoke to ensure its survival at the expense of the public it is supposed to represent? If anyone still has doubts about the KMT’s intentions, they need only look at its resistance to efforts by the Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee, which is attempting to return stolen property to its rightful owners.
Anyone old enough to have lived through the Martial Law era or who has relatives who were victims of political persecution under the KMT should be impervious to attempts to malign the DPP or its protection of Taiwan’s democratic institutions.
Younger generations who repeatedly hear terms such as “Green terror” might become confused about how bad the White Terror era was, or whether, as Sun said, any political party is capable of protecting their democratic rights.
The DPP must do all it can to ensure that schools teach about the White Terror era and the workings of democracy as part of their mandatory curricula, in addition to holding events that commemorate injustices.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.