KMT holding Eric Chu back
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) decision to lower the flag at its Taipei headquarters to half-staff in honor of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on Friday last week, has drawn protests from deep-blue supporters. Despite their disapproval, after the Japanese government announced it would hold a state funeral for Abe, rumors began to circulate that KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) would attend it during a visit to Japan.
In response, Democratic Progressive Party Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) said that such a move is the right choice and a good development for Taiwan, adding that he hopes Chu can overcome the obstacles of the extremists inside the KMT.
The KMT said that Chu had long planned to visit Japan this year, but that the exact timing had yet to be decided.
It is unknown whether Chu intends to replicate the recent success of Vice President William Lai (賴清德), who garnered attention after making a diplomatic breakthrough in flying to Tokyo to pay his respects in honor of Abe.
If Chu does make the trip and can attend the state funeral, he would be criticized by deep-blue supporters and Beijing, but he would also gain support from the majority of Taiwanese. This would surely provide a major boost to his presidential bid in 2024. Thus, the decision will be a test to his style, courage and political wisdom.
Since Chu revealed his plan to visit Japan, he has come under fire from deep-blue heavyweights such as former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) and Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中). Will he be able to resist the internal pressure?
If the KMT is determined to oppose his Japanese trip, would Chu dare to disregard its protests? He might be able to resist the pressure internally, because he is the incumbent chairman, but as the party always acts like Beijing’s little brother, the question remains: Will he dare to disobey it?
During Chu’s visit to the US, he said that the “1992 consensus” between Taiwan and China is “a consensus without a consensus.” In doing so, he has created some room for ambiguous interpretation, but he still cannot escape his fate of being manipulated by China.
If he can attend Abe’s funeral in public, amid the Japanese promotion of “pro-US, pro-Taiwan and anti-China” views, the shock of his Japanese trip would be much greater than that of his US visit, not to mention that he would be standing with mainstream public opinion. Whether he can win applause or boos depends on his final decision.
Chen An-wen
New Taipei City
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under