The name tag of Center for Disease Control Director General Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁), who headed Taiwan's delegation to the Global Conference on SARS held in Kuala Lumpur, carried the correct title of "Director-General CDC Taiwan" without the word "China" anywhere on it.
Meanwhile, PFP Legislator Kao Ming-chien (
During Taiwan's fight against the SARS epidemic, Kao amazingly displayed his double-faced tactics by oscillating between lawmaker and professor, between government official and individual.
He organized the so-called "cross-strait anti-SARS videoconferences" at the Legislative Yuan, in his capacity as a legislator, and then he joined China's delegation, in his capacity as a professor, to attend the WHO conference in Malaysia.
His attitude achieves the same purpose as Beijing's "one China" principle, which has different versions at home and abroad, in dealing with the Taiwan issue.
For Taiwan, Kao is a PFP legislator. For other countries Kao manifests in his actions that he is "part of China."
Although Kao emphasized that he is attending this week's conference as an individual who is part of China's delegation, this still might run counter to Taiwan's national interests.
It would be worthwhile asking legal experts' advice what should be done with Kao, given the following consideration.
First, China should not be discriminated against for being the origin of the SARS virus. But its uncivilized behavior in covering up the disease, hindering WHO experts from entering China to conduct investigations and misleading other nations' anti-SARS efforts should be denounced.
In particular, its neglect of the life and health of the people of Taiwan and its barbaric use of political tactics to thwart this nation's WHO entry bid invite nothing but repulsion.
As a SARS exporter, China has even repeatedly blocked Taiwan's efforts to contain the disease. If we liken the fight against SARS to a war, China can surely be described as an "enemy."
It is quite doubtful whether Kao's attendance as a representative of the "Chinese enemy," instead of being recommended by the Department of Health, should be dealt with according to Article 113 of Criminal Code.
This article states, "A person who without authority secretly agrees with a foreign government or its agent on matters which require the authorization of the government shall be punished with imprisonment for life or for not less than seven years."
Second, as a legislator, Kao's attendance at the conference as China's representative has violated Article 3 of the Legislators' Conduct Act (立法委員行為法), which stipulates that, "[Lawmakers] should be loyal to the country and foster the highest well-being of all the people." The legislature's discipline committee should handle appropriately this case.
Moreover, lawmakers are subject to the regulation stipulated in Article 20 of the Nationality Law (
Wang Sing-nan is a DPP legislator.
Translated by Jackie Lin
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
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
RSS