Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum is a big step forward on the path of democracy. But China and its collaborators in Taiwan are annoyed by the referendum. One says Taiwan is pursuing independence in the name of democracy and threatens to use military force. The other says President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen has made public the two referendum questions, which have drawn a positive response from the US. But I believe China will not give up since it has always opposed Taiwan's democratization in the name of the unification-independence issue. From Taiwan's first presidential election in 1996 to the first transfer of political power in 2000 to now, China has made an all-out effort to suppress Taiwan's democracy.
As I write this article, the Chinese government has not responded to the two referendum questions. But Chinese scholars have said that what concerns Beijing the most is that Taiwan will hold a referendum, not the referendum topics. This is in line with the facts.
Therefore, even if the people of Taiwan support unification with China, Beijing still tries to forbid people from exercising their basic rights through a popular referendum.
The US is the leader of the world's democratic countries and its concern for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is understandable. But China is an autocratic empire. It has no right to and is not qualified to criticize Taiwan's democracy. It knows nothing about democracy and is an enemy of democracy.
In July last year, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's forceful push for legislation based on Article 23 of the Basic Law (
In the District Council elections in November, Hong Kong residents once again expressed their demand for democracy with votes. On Jan. 1, 100,000 people took to the streets.
Beijing has tried to turn its back on the demands of the people. Recently four hack scholars of Beijing, dubbed the "four great defenders of the law" (
The US and the UK have heard the Hong Kong people's wishes and expressed their support. The US Consul General in Hong Kong, James Keith, said history has repeatedly proved that the best policy in response to the people's wishes is to hold general elections.
To suppress Taiwan's democracy, China cozies up to the US. But it adopts a totally different attitude toward the US in dealing with the Hong Kong problem. This is because Hong Kong is under China's control, so China can do whatever it wants. Taiwan, on the other hand, is not under China's control, and therefore the US' help is needed.
If Taiwan is ever controlled by China, there will be no room for the US to interfere in Beijing's "internal affairs" and Taiwan's democracy will undoubtedly come to an end.
A pro-China institution in Hong Kong recently invited two of the "four great defenders of the law" to speak at a seminar. One harshly condemned the Hong Kong residents' demand to "give political power to the people." He said that the Hong Kong government gave political power to the people in 1997, and asked if the people of Hong Kong wanted all six million people to be chief executives.
This is either a foolish comment or a defamation of democracy. Obviously, the US can use China in its war against terrorism, but it must never let China interfere in others' affairs. Otherwise, disaster will ensue.
Paul Lin is a commentator based in New York.
Translated by Jackie Lin
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS