In the face of US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has ludicrously linked the tariffs’ impact on our nation with the mass recall movement their party is facing — a notion that is entirely nonsensical. Over the past year, the opposition parties have undermined the Constitution and thrown governance into chaos, bringing administrative bodies to near-paralysis. Now, in desperation, they are crying out for everyone to “stop the fighting.”
Is that not the pot calling the kettle black? None of the other countries facing Trump’s tariffs are in the midst of a recall movement — clearly, a recall has no connection with the likelihood of being impacted by tariffs.
If Taiwan wants to convince Trump to reduce those tariffs, it must decrease its trade surplus with the US, and to do that KMT lawmakers must be recalled. Blue camp legislators hold a pro-China, anti-US stance. They have consistently attempted to block purchases of arms and agricultural products from the US, making it impossible to reduce the trade surplus. Therefore, removing KMT legislators from office would remove the trade barriers between Taiwan and the US, and increase Taiwan’s imports of US-manufactured products, including weapons and agricultural goods.
Supporting anti-US KMT legislators would undoubtedly lead to higher tariffs against Taiwan. If our nation listens to the blue camp and latches itself onto China, our tariffs would increase from the current 32 percent to China’s 125 percent. As soon as Taiwan aligns itself closely with China — as soon as it becomes part of China’s dubious production schemes — the tariffs placed on our country could skyrocket to resemble those of Cambodia or Vietnam, at 49 percent and 46 percent respectively.
If Taiwan wants to mitigate the harm of Trump’s tariffs, recalling anti-US, pro-China KMT legislators would be a huge first step the public could take to work towards achieving that goal.
Chang Kuo-tsai is a retired National Hsinchu University of Education associate professor.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
There are moments in history when America has turned its back on its principles and withdrawn from past commitments in service of higher goals. For example, US-Soviet Cold War competition compelled America to make a range of deals with unsavory and undemocratic figures across Latin America and Africa in service of geostrategic aims. The United States overlooked mass atrocities against the Bengali population in modern-day Bangladesh in the early 1970s in service of its tilt toward Pakistan, a relationship the Nixon administration deemed critical to its larger aims in developing relations with China. Then, of course, America switched diplomatic recognition
The international women’s soccer match between Taiwan and New Zealand at the Kaohsiung Nanzih Football Stadium, scheduled for Tuesday last week, was canceled at the last minute amid safety concerns over poor field conditions raised by the visiting team. The Football Ferns, as New Zealand’s women’s soccer team are known, had arrived in Taiwan one week earlier to prepare and soon raised their concerns. Efforts were made to improve the field, but the replacement patches of grass could not grow fast enough. The Football Ferns canceled the closed-door training match and then days later, the main event against Team Taiwan. The safety
The National Immigration Agency on Tuesday said it had notified some naturalized citizens from China that they still had to renounce their People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizenship. They must provide proof that they have canceled their household registration in China within three months of the receipt of the notice. If they do not, the agency said it would cancel their household registration in Taiwan. Chinese are required to give up their PRC citizenship and household registration to become Republic of China (ROC) nationals, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. He was referring to Article 9-1 of the Act
The Chinese government on March 29 sent shock waves through the Tibetan Buddhist community by announcing the untimely death of one of its most revered spiritual figures, Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche. His sudden passing in Vietnam raised widespread suspicion and concern among his followers, who demanded an investigation. International human rights organization Human Rights Watch joined their call and urged a thorough investigation into his death, highlighting the potential involvement of the Chinese government. At just 56 years old, Rinpoche was influential not only as a spiritual leader, but also for his steadfast efforts to preserve and promote Tibetan identity and cultural
RSS