Recently the PFP has specialized in holding press conferences and crying foul on behalf of its chairman. To clear PFP Chairman James Soong (
With so many fingers pointing at its controversial leader, the PFP in its paranoia is presenting a conspiracy theory, essentially claiming that everyone wants to harm Soong. But is Soong really as innocent as the PFP would like us to believe?
The Chung Hsing Bills Finance scandal is a four-year-old case. On Wednesday, in response to a question from a member of the public, President Chen Shui-bian (
After the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict Soong over the case, lawyer Chuang Po-lin (
The Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office has now ordered the Taipei prosecutors' office to look into the reasons cited by Chuang in his appeal. The pan-blue lawmakers' accusations of political persecution are an overreaction.
On another front, the Central News Agency (CNA) recently made a mistake in translating a news report about former French foreign minister Roland Dumas' remarks on the Lafayette scandal. Dumas claimed that US$400 million in kickbacks had been transferred to the "general secretariat" of the then-ruling party -- ie, the KMT. But CNA mistranslated the phrase "general secretariat" as "secretary general" -- and in so doing directly implicated Soong.
The fact that the report turns out to be a mistranslation in no way actually proves Soong's innocence. After all, he was the KMT secretary-general at the time, the man who oversaw the party's secretariat. If the Lafayette kickbacks have anything to do with the KMT's secretariat, they almost certainly have to do with Soong. Using a mistranslated news report to "prove" Soong's innocence is an attempt to divert public attention and put blinkers on people's eyes.
This is nothing new for Soong. A few days ago, Soong argued during a press conference that, as director-general of the Government Information Office at the time, his role in the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident was simply to try to maintain the nation's image. What an understatement. During the trials for those arrested in the notorious incident, Soong publicly denounced them as "pro-Taiwan independence elements," and "those who walk the same path as the Communist bandits," and as "People who want to overthrow the government by force."
Soong's words defined the incident then and betray him now.
There's a frequently used phrase in local politics -- borrowed from Shakespeare -- "The queen's chastity cannot be questioned!" Soong is not only the chairman of the PFP but also the "queen" whom KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
Is a new foreign partner for Taiwan emerging in the Middle East? Last week, Taiwanese media reported that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) secretly visited Israel, a country with whom Taiwan has long shared unofficial relations but which has approached those relations cautiously. In the wake of China’s implicit but clear support for Hamas and Iran in the wake of the October 2023 assault on Israel, Jerusalem’s calculus may be changing. Both small countries facing literal existential threats, Israel and Taiwan have much to gain from closer ties. In his recent op-ed for the Washington Post, President William
Taiwan-India relations appear to have been put on the back burner this year, including on Taiwan’s side. Geopolitical pressures have compelled both countries to recalibrate their priorities, even as their core security challenges remain unchanged. However, what is striking is the visible decline in the attention India once received from Taiwan. The absence of the annual Diwali celebrations for the Indian community and the lack of a commemoration marking the 30-year anniversary of the representative offices, the India Taipei Association and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center, speak volumes and raise serious questions about whether Taiwan still has a coherent India
A stabbing attack inside and near two busy Taipei MRT stations on Friday evening shocked the nation and made headlines in many foreign and local news media, as such indiscriminate attacks are rare in Taiwan. Four people died, including the 27-year-old suspect, and 11 people sustained injuries. At Taipei Main Station, the suspect threw smoke grenades near two exits and fatally stabbed one person who tried to stop him. He later made his way to Eslite Spectrum Nanxi department store near Zhongshan MRT Station, where he threw more smoke grenades and fatally stabbed a person on a scooter by the roadside.
Recent media reports have again warned that traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies are disappearing and might vanish altogether within the next 15 years. Yet viewed through the broader lens of social and economic change, the rise and fall — or transformation — of industries is rarely the result of a single factor, nor is it inherently negative. Taiwan itself offers a clear parallel. Once renowned globally for manufacturing, it is now best known for its high-tech industries. Along the way, some businesses successfully transformed, while others disappeared. These shifts, painful as they might be for those directly affected, have not necessarily harmed society
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