Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) — who once endured the hardship of living under an authoritarian political system and arduously led a quiet revolution — once said: “Democratic issues must be solved with democratic means.” Today, as Taiwanese are faced with the malicious subversion of our country’s democratic constitutional order, we must not panic. Rather, we should start by taking democratic action to rescue the Constitutional Court.
As Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) leads the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) in strangling Taiwan’s judiciary and depriving individuals of the right to recall and development, Taiwanese are filled with anxiety. In response, various countermeasures have been proposed — the Executive Yuan could refuse to countersign, President William Lai (賴清德) could refuse to promulgate the law, a constitutional interpretation could be conducted but not a review, Lai could personally step in to negotiate internal disputes or a mass recall movement could be initiated.
Lai declared at the first opportunity that, to uphold the constitutional order, he would use democratic means to address recent legislative actions that deviate from democratic principles. Therefore, tactics like refusing to countersign and refusing to promulgate or review the law contravene the constitutional order and are unacceptable.
So, what democratic means would safeguard Taiwan’s democratic constitutional order?
On Tuesday, as if acting as a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agent, Fu led KMT and TPP legislators in blocking all seven of Lai’s judicial nominees. Under their malicious reforms, the Constitutional Court would be left in a dysfunctional state. This not only revealed their intent to strangle the very core of Taiwan’s democratic constitutional order, but — even more frighteningly — resembled a legal “democratic coup.”
As Taiwanese face this “democratic coup,” we must abide by the democratic constitutional order to strengthen our democratic immunity.
We must support the DPP’s legislative caucus and the Judicial Yuan — the opposing party in the disputes caused by the KMT and TPP’s malicious amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法). In accordance with the rights protected under the constitution — separation of powers and judicial independence — both should immediately file suits for a constitutional review and temporary relief.
As Fu and other KMT and TPP members’ self-serving legislation contravenes the principles of democratic electoral agreements and the people’s right to recall, the Executive Yuan should respond with proper constitutional procedures. After Lai promulgates the law, it should file for reconsideration, a constitutional review and temporary relief.
With regard to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法), Fu and other KMT and TPP members are fabricating fiscal disputes between the central and local governments to destabilize Taiwan’s governance and create political division. This would lead to the disproportionate allocation of resources to city and county governments.
To handle this crisis — and before launching a mass recall movement — Taiwanese must unite and combine our efforts to save the Constitutional Court. This is the foundation for safeguarding Taiwan’s democratic constitutional order.
Chen Tsai-neng is a doctoral candidate at National Chung Hsing University’s Graduate Institute of International Politics.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has offered Taiwan a paradoxical mix of reassurance and risk. Trump’s visceral hostility toward China could reinforce deterrence in the Taiwan Strait. Yet his disdain for alliances and penchant for transactional bargaining threaten to erode what Taiwan needs most: a reliable US commitment. Taiwan’s security depends less on US power than on US reliability, but Trump is undermining the latter. Deterrence without credibility is a hollow shield. Trump’s China policy in his second term has oscillated wildly between confrontation and conciliation. One day, he threatens Beijing with “massive” tariffs and calls China America’s “greatest geopolitical
On Sunday, 13 new urgent care centers (UCC) officially began operations across the six special municipalities. The purpose of the centers — which are open from 8am to midnight on Sundays and national holidays — is to reduce congestion in hospital emergency rooms, especially during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year. It remains to be seen how effective these centers would be. For one, it is difficult for people to judge for themselves whether their condition warrants visiting a major hospital or a UCC — long-term public education and health promotions are necessary. Second, many emergency departments acknowledge
US President Donald Trump’s seemingly throwaway “Taiwan is Taiwan” statement has been appearing in headlines all over the media. Although it appears to have been made in passing, the comment nevertheless reveals something about Trump’s views and his understanding of Taiwan’s situation. In line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the US and Taiwan enjoy unofficial, but close economic, cultural and national defense ties. They lack official diplomatic relations, but maintain a partnership based on shared democratic values and strategic alignment. Excluding China, Taiwan maintains a level of diplomatic relations, official or otherwise, with many nations worldwide. It can be said that
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) made the astonishing assertion during an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle, published on Friday last week, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. She also essentially absolved Putin of blame for initiating the war in Ukraine. Commentators have since listed the reasons that Cheng’s assertion was not only absurd, but bordered on dangerous. Her claim is certainly absurd to the extent that there is no need to discuss the substance of it: It would be far more useful to assess what drove her to make the point and stick so
RSS