The pan-blue lawmakers have stalled a number of President Chen Shui-bian's (
The investigations on gang boss Lo Fu-chu (
Former legislator Lo claims to be the spiritual leader of the Tiandaomeng (Heavenly Path Alliance). During his term as a legislator he was the "big brother" of independent lawmakers. He was the epitome of "rule by gangsters."
Lo was so audacious in the legislature that he even beat up PFP Legislator Diane Lee (
In Chinese politics, there is a tradition of secret collusion with gangsters. This tradition, perfected in Taiwan by the KMT, still threatens the foundations of democracy and the rule of law. Chen's crackdown on Lo, one of Taiwan's most powerful politician-thugs, has been very gratifying.
Chu is a representative of "black gold" in Kaohsiung. His Anfeng group (安峰) has long been a "black gold" stronghold. The group has run into one problem after another since 1998. To Chu's detriment, Chen, not Chu's "black gold" comrades Lien Chan (連戰) or James Soong (
In 2001, prosecutors sought a seven-year prison term for Chu on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion. Chu apparently believed Chen was only paying lip service in the fight against "black gold," for he continued to engage in vote-buying at a rate of NT$500 per vote. After collecting evidence, prosecutors sought another 22-month sentence for him.
During the election for Kaohsiung City Council speaker, Chu bribed councilors at NT$5 million per vote. His election as speaker angered his constituents.
Justice minister Chen immediately asked prosecutors to launch an investigation, which ended in April with the prosecutors asking for another 30-month sentence.
President Chen's bravery is apparent in the fact that he is even cracking down on Liu, who served as the KMT's treasurer when former president Lee Teng-hui (
President Chen has also cracked down hard on one of his own party members, DPP Legislator Chou Po-lun (
Apart from Chou, however, the other three mentioned above are still at the stage of indictment. Given the sluggish pace of the courts, their cases may also drag on for a long time. No wonder justice minister Chen has demanded speedier trials, saying "Justice dispensed late is no justice at all." Whether the president can safeguard his reputation as an anti-black gold crusader will depend on the judges' performance.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS