The Lienchiang County Government is superseding the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by giving county residents prepaid transportation cards. Residents who travel to Fuzhou and spend money would be provided with discounts. In doing this, the government is voluntarily serving the CCP’s Taiwan Policy.
The Lienchiang County Government’s behavior severely infringes upon civil servants’ obligations toward and pledge of loyalty to Taiwan.
Lienchiang County’s budget last year was about NT$4.6 billion (US$142 million). If this amount were divided among Matsu’s 13,200 residents, each person would receive an average of NT$350,000. The Lienchiang County government has instead decided to help the CCP take control of the area, “selling” the people of Matsu to the CCP for a mere 300 Chinese yuan.
County governments are public entities. The tenets of civil service clearly stipulate that civil servants pledge their loyalty to our country . Despite the Lienchiang County government setting an illegal example, the County magistrate was elected by the public and should act according to the regulations that govern all civil servants.
Civil servants working under the county government have an even stronger obligation to abide by the law. They must not accept the government’s illegal instructions and do things that encroach on national interests.
In Taiwan, accounting and human affairs personnel are under the control of the central system. Thus, political units should fulfill the function of directing and supervising the government’s conduct. The Control Yuan should motion for the impeachment of Lienchiang’s civil servants.
The spirit of political autonomy lies in providing a place with the ability to handle its own general affairs. It enables administrative efficacy and independent handling of matters.
It is not meant to be a limitless expansion that extends beyond national borders. Nor is it meant to reach a point where administrative actions contravene national interests.
Chen Chi-nung is a political commentator.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
On May 17, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) joined forces to create a horrible spectacle. They began their plan to expand the powers of the legislature and gut the power of the incoming administration, which could potentially “Hong-Kong-ify” the legislature. They are using unscrupulous methods to make inroads into the judiciary, threatening that they would lock up officials or legislators for certain offenses, leading to public ire and worry. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) subjugation of Hong Kong came about through four major stages. First: The CCP broadly looked for people it could coordinate with to
Taiwan’s exceptional expertise in semiconductor manufacturing has propelled the nation to a paramount position of global economic significance. With renowned foundries such as the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) spearheading global high-end chip production, Taiwan’s dominance in this sector has not only catalyzed substantial economic growth, but also attracted considerable international attention and strategic interest. Nevertheless, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is confronting potential challenges. The global shortage of high-end chips, fueled by surging demand in sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), underscores the industry’s indispensable role in the global economy and the urgent need for solutions. At the same time, competitors are
When the presidential inauguration on May 20 passed by quite peacefully amid the ongoing tenuous security situation across the Taiwan Strait, an anxious global community in general, and the administrative establishment of Taiwan in particular, heaved a veritable sigh of relief. This was quite short-lived, with China engaging in an overtly threatening display of brinkmanship on May 23, by conducting naval and coast guard exercises at an unprecedented scale in waters around Taiwan. A large number of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force aircraft also crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. This show of force,
China on Thursday last week launched military exercises titled “Joint Sword-2024A” around Taiwan, which it said were to “punish” Taiwan in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) inaugural address. While these drills showcased Beijing’s advanced military capabilities, they were also born of its weakness and demonstrated once again its total inability, or unwillingness, to understand and respect the preferences of Taiwanese. For all its “great rejuvenation,” Beijing cannot influence Taiwanese politics the way it would like. It is no closer to achieving “unification” on its own terms than when former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) issued his “message to Taiwanese patriots”