Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) delivered his final annual policy address at the Taipei City Council on Thursday and Friday, during which he said it was unclear what “disturbing Taiwan” meant in the context of Chinese military aircraft operating near Taiwan and that if he were president, he too would “order aircraft to cross the median line of the Taiwan Strait.”
Ko made the comments when asked by city councilors about the city government’s plan to hold the Taipei-Shanghai Twin-City Forum via videoconference next week, even though the Taipei City Council in January approved a budget of nearly NT$1.4 million (US$46,751) for the forum with the proviso that “if Chinese Communist Party aircraft or warships continue to disturb Taiwan before the forum, the budget cannot be used.”
The forum — designed as a platform for non-political cross-strait exchanges — was launched in 2010 by then-Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), with the cities taking turns to host it.
Ko sparked controversy at the forum in 2015 and 2017 when he said that the “two sides of the Strait are one family.”
China’s People’s Liberation Army flew nine warcraft into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on July 8, while 10 entered the zone on Friday, including three that crossed the median line.
Asked by city councilors if the forum would go ahead next week even though Chinese aircraft have continued to “disturb” Taiwan, Ko said it was unclear what activity by the aircraft would constitute a disturbance, adding that if the Mainland Affairs Council says that the situation is unsuitable, the forum would be canceled.
“If the aircraft are disturbing Taiwan, why are they not being brought down?” he asked. “Would that be the president’s responsibility, or mine?”
“If the other side [China] is so despicable, then we should ask the president to stop bilateral trade, withdraw Taiwanese from China and prepare for battle,” he said.
Ko is no stranger to controversy. On Tuesday — a day after Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) fell ill, falling into a coma after an apparent stroke — Ko said that Tsai had been indignant over Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te’s (李永得) criticism of the city government’s handling of a National Taiwan Museum land ownership issue, seeming to imply that the criticism had something to do with Tsai’s health situation.
Also on Tuesday, Ko said that the city and the ministry had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to deal with the land issue, and that Lee was “too lazy and not paying attention to his work.”
However, when told that meeting minutes were the only documents that were signed, he laughed the issue off, saying: “Fine, meeting minutes are not an MOU.”
Ko also seems to be tied to agendas set in China.
When asked about the Twin-City Forum being brought forward from next month, he refused to reveal an exact date, saying it would be announced by Taipei and Shanghai after final negotiations.
As the mayor of Taiwan’s capital, chairman of the Taiwan People’s Party and a possible presidential candidate, Ko’s words should be scrutinized and he should be held accountable for his actions.
He might consider remarks such as “bringing aircraft down” or “flying over the median line” to be mere trash talk, but in an international setting, misperceptions can lead to irreversible consequences that cannot be easily laughed off.
Ko must remember that he was elected in Taiwan’s capital and has a responsibility to honestly report to and be monitored by city councilors, who represent the people who voted for him. He was not elected by Shanghai, so he has no obligation to report to it first.
China’s supreme objective in a war across the Taiwan Strait is to incorporate Taiwan as a province of the People’s Republic. It follows, therefore, that international recognition of Taiwan’s de jure independence is a consummation that China’s leaders devoutly wish to avoid. By the same token, an American strategy to deny China that objective would complicate Beijing’s calculus and deter large-scale hostilities. For decades, China has cautioned “independence means war.” The opposite is also true: “war means independence.” A comprehensive strategy of denial would guarantee an outcome of de jure independence for Taiwan in the event of Chinese invasion or
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) earlier this month said it is necessary for her to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and it would be a “huge boost” to the party’s local election results in November, but many KMT members have expressed different opinions, indicating a struggle between different groups in the party. Since Cheng was elected as party chairwoman in October last year, she has repeatedly expressed support for increased exchanges with China, saying that it would bring peace and prosperity to Taiwan, and that a meeting with Xi in Beijing takes priority over meeting
The political order of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) first took shape in 1988. Then-vice president Lee succeeded former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) after he passed, and served out the remainder of his term in office. In 1990, Lee was elected president by the National Assembly, and in 1996, he won Taiwan’s first direct presidential election. Those two, six and four-year terms were an era-defining 12-year presidential tenure. Throughout those years, Lee served as helmsman for Taiwan’s transition from martial law and authoritarianism to democracy. This period came to be known as the “quiet revolution,” leaving a legacy containing light
Taiwan no longer wants to merely manufacture the chips that power artificial intelligence (AI). It aims to build the software, platforms and services that run on them. Ten major AI infrastructure projects, a national cloud computing center in Tainan, the sovereign language model Trustworthy AI Dialogue Engine, five targeted industry verticals — from precision medicine to smart agriculture — and the goal of ranking among the world’s top five in computing power by 2040: The roadmap from “Silicon Island” to “Smart Island” is drawn. The question is whether the western plains, where population, industry and farmland are concentrated, have the water and
RSS