Voting age boosts Constitution
The referendum on a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age is to be held on Nov. 26. The result will not only impact Taiwan’s future, but also determine the sustainability of Taiwan’s constitutional democracy.
While some people wonder if our young citizens are qualified as voters, I am surprised to learn that some would prevent those who have completed 12-year basic education from participating in politics. Are they suspicious of young people’s capabilities, or are they plotting something for their own benefit?
Society should treat our young people with opportunities and trust. What our younger generations want is a civil right unconstrained by traditional thinking, not a recognition offered by the elders.
What we must do is facilitate a new Constitution. It must be founded upon the rights of our citizens, the subjectivity of Taiwan and the principle of comparative constitutions. It must keep up with the times.
Instituting a new Constitution is not easy. It requires our younger generations’ participation. The referendum on voting age must pass so our young people will be treated equally, and their passion, sincerity, and courage can contribute to Taiwan’s constitutional reform.
With the passing of the referendum, our Constitution will keep up with the world. Next, we shall devote ourselves to instituting a new Constitution corresponding to Taiwan’s future.
Yao Meng-chang
Assistant professor,
postgraduate legal studies, Fu Jen Catholic University
In the US’ National Security Strategy (NSS) report released last month, US President Donald Trump offered his interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. The “Trump Corollary,” presented on page 15, is a distinctly aggressive rebranding of the more than 200-year-old foreign policy position. Beyond reasserting the sovereignty of the western hemisphere against foreign intervention, the document centers on energy and strategic assets, and attempts to redraw the map of the geopolitical landscape more broadly. It is clear that Trump no longer sees the western hemisphere as a peaceful backyard, but rather as the frontier of a new Cold War. In particular,
As the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) races toward its 2027 modernization goals, most analysts fixate on ship counts, missile ranges and artificial intelligence. Those metrics matter — but they obscure a deeper vulnerability. The true future of the PLA, and by extension Taiwan’s security, might hinge less on hardware than on whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can preserve ideological loyalty inside its own armed forces. Iran’s 1979 revolution demonstrated how even a technologically advanced military can collapse when the social environment surrounding it shifts. That lesson has renewed relevance as fresh unrest shakes Iran today — and it should
When it became clear that the world was entering a new era with a radical change in the US’ global stance in US President Donald Trump’s second term, many in Taiwan were concerned about what this meant for the nation’s defense against China. Instability and disruption are dangerous. Chaos introduces unknowns. There was a sense that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) might have a point with its tendency not to trust the US. The world order is certainly changing, but concerns about the implications for Taiwan of this disruption left many blind to how the same forces might also weaken
On today’s page, Masahiro Matsumura, a professor of international politics and national security at St Andrew’s University in Osaka, questions the viability and advisability of the government’s proposed “T-Dome” missile defense system. Matsumura writes that Taiwan’s military budget would be better allocated elsewhere, and cautions against the temptation to allow politics to trump strategic sense. What he does not do is question whether Taiwan needs to increase its defense capabilities. “Given the accelerating pace of Beijing’s military buildup and political coercion ... [Taiwan] cannot afford inaction,” he writes. A rational, robust debate over the specifics, not the scale or the necessity,
RSS