Folks in the opposition parties and pro-China media have been going all out to attack the Chen Shui-bian (
But their opposition to war is very questionable. Remember, they have frequently served as Beijing's mouthpieces and have never missed a chance to use China's military threats to intimidate pro-independence forces. Every time former president Lee Teng-hui (
Deep down, they are supporters of Chinese military power because they can use the threat of it to ensure their political influence. They habitually use Beijing's military threat to intimidate their political opponents.
Why did they become ardent anti-war advocates? It certainly was not out of any deep-seated belief in pacifism. The reason is very simple. They oppose Chen and therefore they oppose his policies. They oppose him because they suspect Chen is not loyal to China, because they view him as an advocate of independence and therefore an enemy of China.
Following the rise of Chinese nationalism across the Strait and the transition of political power in Taiwan, their feelings toward the US have become increasingly complex. In the days of KMT rule, former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (
However, with the rise of native Taiwanese awareness and following the KMT's loss of power, the pro-unification folks have fallen into despair. Their feelings toward Taiwan and its people have also become increasingly complex. On top of this come the economic incentives from China and the calls of Chinese nationalism. All these have changed the pro-unification people's feelings toward the US and Taiwan.
The US no longer appears to be Taiwan's protector against a possible Chinese invasion. On the contrary, it has become a new hegemony aiding pro-independence forces, attempting to stop the unification of China and preventing China from becoming stronger. For them, China is no longer a threat. It is their motherland.
For this reason, the pro-unification media and scholars in recent years have always subscribed to anti-US opinions around the world. By disseminating fears about a unipolar world, they have tried to vilify the US and its role as a global policeman. Meanwhile, they have tried to paint China as the world's future superpower.
At every key moment in Taiwan's domestic politics or the international situation, the pan-blue camp has echoed the Chinese nationalists across the Strait. All these have been occasioned by Chen and the US. In their eyes, Chen is an obstacle to China's unification, the US an obstacle to China becoming strong.
Since coming to power the DPP has copied the KMT's foreign policy verbatim -- pro-US, pro-West and providing more aid to diplomatic allies. That's because Taiwan has no other choice. Taiwan of course would like to be pro-China, pro-Russia or pro-the entire world, but none of these countries support this country in the least bit. Now the opposition is criticizing the DPP for adopting the very same policies of the former administration. Supporting the US is now called kissing America's backside. Providing aid to allies is now called "sugar daddy diplomacy."
As they accuse Lee and Chen of attempt to split China, what a shame that the opposition folks don't realize they are attempting to split Taiwan.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
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