President Chen Shui-bian (
Two odd aspects of this situation stand out.
First, Article 17 of the Referendum Law (
In light of this, defensive referendums are based on the premise of national sovereignty. It is strange that the US opposes a defensive referendum in the same way that it opposes independence. We can conclude that what the US opposes is not a defensive referendum, but the premise of such a referendum -- Taiwanese sovereignty.
Second, therefore, perhaps the threat to Taiwan's sovereignty is not only China's missiles, but also the US' verbal threats.
Taiwan should not just single-mindedly focus on China's threats, but also be conscious of the control exerted by the US' hegemony.
Isn't the US trying to deny Taiwan's sovereignty by threatening inaction -- not selling weapons to Taiwan? No wonder some say that if Taiwan became a state or a colony of the US, perhaps it would spend less money paying taxes to the federal government than it now spends buying weapons.
Chen's hasty proposal to hold a defensive referendum has plunged the pan-green camp's election campaign into a muddle. Though he knows that swing voters hold the key to the election, Chen has lurched to an extreme position.
Perhaps Chen should consider making the preamble of a new constitution the subject of the defensive referendum.
Putting the preamble of a new constitution to a referendum would not be amending the Constitution, nor would it be creating a new constitution. It would be a declaration to open up the political future of the people of Taiwan.
As long as the content of a proposed preamble is appropriate, the pan-blue camp would find it hard to oppose a referendum on the issue. Furthermore, China and the US -- the two big nations that threaten Taiwan's sovereignty -- would not be in a position to say anything against it.
But this move could also become a turning point for creating a new constitution or amending the current one on a large scale.
The preamble to a new constitution might include the following four points:
Taiwan has independent sovereignty and a free and democratic system;
Unification can be negotiated when one day China achieves a certain level of freedom and democratic and economic development;
Changes to Taiwan's status quo should be decided by the people through a referendum;
Taiwanese people need a new constitution to meet their development needs in the new century, and the current Constitution must be frozen.
Given Taiwan's fragmentary sovereignty, these four main points might be the best political plan to guard against threats from China and the US. An overhaul of the Constitution is of great urgency if we set aside electoral considerations and focus instead on Taiwan's future.
Yen Chueh-an is a law professor at National Taiwan University.
Translated by Jackie Lin
Two weeks ago, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) raised hackles in Taiwan by posting to her 2.6 million Instagram followers that she was visiting “Taipei, China.” Yeoh’s post continues a long-standing trend of Chinese propaganda that spreads disinformation about Taiwan’s political status and geography, aimed at deceiving the world into supporting its illegitimate claims to Taiwan, which is not and has never been part of China. Taiwan must respond to this blatant act of cognitive warfare. Failure to respond merely cedes ground to China to continue its efforts to conquer Taiwan in the global consciousness to justify an invasion. Taiwan’s government
This month’s news that Taiwan ranks as Asia’s happiest place according to this year’s World Happiness Report deserves both celebration and reflection. Moving up from 31st to 27th globally and surpassing Singapore as Asia’s happiness leader is gratifying, but the true significance lies deeper than these statistics. As a society at the crossroads of Eastern tradition and Western influence, Taiwan embodies a distinctive approach to happiness worth examining more closely. The report highlights Taiwan’s exceptional habit of sharing meals — 10.1 shared meals out of 14 weekly opportunities, ranking eighth globally. This practice is not merely about food, but represents something more
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
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
RSS