The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators.
President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities.
Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force, those who traveled to an enemy country to secretly meet with officials engaged in “united front” operations against Taiwan should face legal consequences.
Backed by the CCP, the pro-unification camp has launched an assault on the nation, aiming to paralyze the government. They claim to fight dictatorship, yet openly embrace dictators.
The KMT and TPP have provided “mutual legal assistance” by expressing support for corruption and document forgery, shamelessly gathering to pressure and threaten the judiciary.
They opened a back door for the CCP within the legislature — yet they accuse the anti-CCP pan-green camp of being “green communists.”
The KMT ruled Taiwan under martial law for nearly half a century, yet today the party’s elites travel to China and court CCP officials.
Meanwhile, some of their party members and staffers are facing legal consequences for allegedly forging signatures from deceased people in recall petitions targeting their political rivals, yet they shamelessly vow to “fight against dictatorship.”
Does the judiciary owe preferential treatment to the KMT and the TPP?
KMT Taipei chapter secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文) and secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) have denied any wrongdoing, saying they obtained the petition documents from the KMT Youth League, but how could the Youth League have accessed the party’s register of members?
Last year, the KMT and the TPP jointly pushed through amendments to the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), tightening the requirements for petitions used to initiate the recall of elected officials.
The amended law included harsher penalties, stipulating that anyone found guilty of using another person’s identification or forging documents for a recall petition could face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to NT$1 million (US$30,745). They are protesting the legal consequences of contravening the very law they helped create.
They not only refused to admit their wrongdoing, but also surrounded the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
Nearly 95 percent of the petitions submitted by civil groups leading recall campaigns targeting KMT lawmakers comply with regulations, while 40 percent of the KMT’s recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers have contravened the rules, strongly indicating systematic document forgery.
Politicians tied to a scam syndicate stood on Ketagalan Boulevard in an attempt to deceive the public, insult the president, incite hatred against the government and create confrontation.
This mass recall campaign amounts to a civil war on democracy and culture. If Taiwan can get through the transition period, the country would see 100 years of prosperity.
Taiwanese must not tolerate or turn a blind eye to the opposition parties’ vicious acts. They should come forward and recall these lawmakers.
Chu Meng-hsiang is a former deputy secretary-general of the Lee Teng-hui Foundation.
Translated by Fion Khan
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
US President Donald Trump created some consternation in Taiwan last week when he told a news conference that a successful trade deal with China would help with “unification.” Although the People’s Republic of China has never ruled Taiwan, Trump’s language struck a raw nerve in Taiwan given his open siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression seeking to “reunify” Ukraine and Russia. On earlier occasions, Trump has criticized Taiwan for “stealing” the US’ chip industry and for relying too much on the US for defense, ominously presaging a weakening of US support for Taiwan. However, further examination of Trump’s remarks in
It is being said every second day: The ongoing recall campaign in Taiwan — where citizens are trying to collect enough signatures to trigger re-elections for a number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — is orchestrated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), or even President William Lai (賴清德) himself. The KMT makes the claim, and foreign media and analysts repeat it. However, they never show any proof — because there is not any. It is alarming how easily academics, journalists and experts toss around claims that amount to accusing a democratic government of conspiracy — without a shred of evidence. These
China on May 23, 1951, imposed the so-called “17-Point Agreement” to formally annex Tibet. In March, China in its 18th White Paper misleadingly said it laid “firm foundations for the region’s human rights cause.” The agreement is invalid in international law, because it was signed under threat. Ngapo Ngawang Jigme, head of the Tibetan delegation sent to China for peace negotiations, was not authorized to sign the agreement on behalf of the Tibetan government and the delegation was made to sign it under duress. After seven decades, Tibet remains intact and there is global outpouring of sympathy for Tibetans. This realization
RSS