During an interpellation over power outages at the Legislative Yuan last week, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) — great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and grandson of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) — repeatedly demanded that Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) “guarantee” there would be no more blackouts.
Not getting a straight answer from Su, Chiang Wan-an insisted that the government have the “guts” to deliver on its promise, to which Su retorted: “Your grandfather guaranteed recapturing China, and the KMT still hasn’t done that... To fulfill your grandfather and your great-grandfather’s promise, I served in the military for two years. I was told I would be the first to set foot in mainland China and save our compatriots. What is the point of a guarantee?”
The exchange has drawn criticism from the pan-blue camp, most notably from KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康). While some were calling for Su to step down, others were asking for the establishment of an “anti-interpellation” rule.
While accusing Su of not daring to offer a guarantee, the KMT seems to have swept its promises and guarantees under the rug. Aside from recapturing China, the KMT promised to oppose the communists in Russia, but its promises seem to have become taboo, with none of its members willing to acknowledge them.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the KMT was initially on the fence, but after witnessing the global community unanimously side with Ukraine, it quickly switched from pro-Russia inclinations to a timid and overdue support for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Chiang Wan-an is the KMT’s potential candidate for Taipei mayor in the election later this year.
Gentle, well-mannered and inoffensive, he has always been viewed by KMT supporters as the “party’s boy.” Since his exchange with Su, KMT heavyweights have been rushing in to “save” Chiang Wan-an, which has only enhanced his weakling image and given voters reason to question his abilities.
To transform his “gutless” image, he should display more intellect, conviction and leadership in question-and-answer sessions, instead of resorting to the goading language most used by “street ruffians.”
The KMT must have misgivings if it thought Chiang Wan-an could become “the messiah” who would lead the party into a new era. By changing his surname from Chang (章) to Chiang (蔣), he chose to embrace the Chiang dynasty. While his ancestry is gaining him wide support among Taipei’s deep-blue voters, he has so far failed to attract independent voters of the younger generation. His mediocre and fruitless performance in politics has people questioning whether he is solely relying on his birthright.
As one claiming the Chiang line, is he going to shoulder his forefathers’ promises to fight communism? Or is Chiang Wan-an going to turn into a prodigal son who mingles with pro-China cohorts? Either way, he has tough decisions ahead of him, and an even tougher future if he continues with the weak behavior.
As Chiang Wan-an’s great-grandfather and grandfather proved, a name can be more of a liability than an asset. If he really wishes to do his name and family justice, he will need to show some grit and resolve in November’s mayoral election.
President William Lai (賴清德) attended a dinner held by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) when representatives from the group visited Taiwan in October. In a speech at the event, Lai highlighted similarities in the geopolitical challenges faced by Israel and Taiwan, saying that the two countries “stand on the front line against authoritarianism.” Lai noted how Taiwan had “immediately condemned” the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and had provided humanitarian aid. Lai was heavily criticized from some quarters for standing with AIPAC and Israel. On Nov. 4, the Taipei Times published an opinion article (“Speak out on the
Most Hong Kongers ignored the elections for its Legislative Council (LegCo) in 2021 and did so once again on Sunday. Unlike in 2021, moderate democrats who pledged their allegiance to Beijing were absent from the ballots this year. The electoral system overhaul is apparent revenge by Beijing for the democracy movement. On Sunday, the Hong Kong “patriots-only” election of the LegCo had a record-low turnout in the five geographical constituencies, with only 1.3 million people casting their ballots on the only seats that most Hong Kongers are eligible to vote for. Blank and invalid votes were up 50 percent from the previous
More than a week after Hondurans voted, the country still does not know who will be its next president. The Honduran National Electoral Council has not declared a winner, and the transmission of results has experienced repeated malfunctions that interrupted updates for almost 24 hours at times. The delay has become the second-longest post-electoral silence since the election of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National Party in 2017, which was tainted by accusations of fraud. Once again, this has raised concerns among observers, civil society groups and the international community. The preliminary results remain close, but both
News about expanding security cooperation between Israel and Taiwan, including the visits of Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) in September and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) this month, as well as growing ties in areas such as missile defense and cybersecurity, should not be viewed as isolated events. The emphasis on missile defense, including Taiwan’s newly introduced T-Dome project, is simply the most visible sign of a deeper trend that has been taking shape quietly over the past two to three years. Taipei is seeking to expand security and defense cooperation with Israel, something officials
RSS