New Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) was yesterday sworn in as the leader of his new Cabinet, which retains most of the ministers from his predecessor Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) term in office. Following the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) losses in last year’s local elections, Chen’s team aims to win back the public’s trust in President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) government ahead of next year’s presidential vote.
However, this could be a tall order not only for the Cabinet, but also for Tsai and Vice President William Lai (賴清德), who recently took over as DPP chair and is expected to run for president next year.
Following a minor reshuffle that added female ministers and young officials to the Cabinet, Chen has said that his team would continue the previous administration’s policies, and vowed to bolster Taiwan’s economic, environmental and social resilience.
However, facing the upheavals of the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, it cannot stick to existing policies, and should instead explore more innovative measures to accelerate economic recovery and bolster social stability to regain people’s trust.
The Cabinet is also facing a belligerent China that has been ramping up military incursions and political pressure against Taiwan, prompting US military officers and lawmakers, as well as international think tanks, to warn that Beijing might attack Taiwan or spark a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait in the next two to five years.
However, some military experts have said that China has taken lessons from the setbacks Russia has suffered in its invasion of Ukraine, which could make Beijing think twice before attacking Taiwan.
Even Hu Xijin (胡錫進), a former editor-in-chief of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece Global Times and a nationalist pundit, has said that China would not risk starting a war unless it is absolutely sure that it can defeat the US and any other nation that might come to Taiwan’s aid in a military conflict.
It has long been a goal of Chinese leaders to occupy Taiwan to fulfill their goal of “unification,” no matter how long the wait. However, the timeline seems to have moved forward after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) secured a third term at the CCP’s 20th National Congress in October, and Xi and Song Tao (宋濤), the new director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, reiterated their desire to hasten the schedule.
Xi has also instructed CCP politburo member Wang Hu-ning (王滬寧) to develop a new strategy to define cross-strait relations and unification. The plan would apparently replace or revise the “one country, two systems” formula, which has been rejected by Taiwanese following Beijing’s subjugation of Hong Kong.
It appears the gears have already begun turning. Song has met with former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and others to urge Taiwanese to join China’s “cross-strait unification” efforts. Meanwhile, during the Lunar New Year holiday, Beijing said that it would lift an import ban on some Taiwanese products, including Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor, that had been in place since Dec. 9 last year. The announcement came immediately after a meeting between Kinmen County Commissioner Chen Fu-hai (陳福海), KMT lawmakers and Song.
China is clearly using import bans against Taiwan to favor certain politicians and parties for propaganda purposes. Beijing’s actions are part of its proxy war and strategic framework for so-called “peaceful unification.” Its overarching goal is to ensure the defeat of the DPP, which is a major obstacle to its ambitions of taking over Taiwan, in next year’s elections.
Tsai and Lai need to act wisely and courageously as they lead the nation and the DPP into next year’s presidential election to ensure China’s designs never materialize.
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