The 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally, with 2 million people taking to the streets, set a record hard to surpass in the history of Taiwan's democratic development. What role do the 2 million participants of the rally play in the presidential election? What impact do they have? Well, we'll know the answer on March 20.
Seeing the crowds that day, the pan-blue camp could not be more worried. Although it tried to comfort itself by saying that "polls are of reference value only," it immediately emulated the pan-green camp by planning to hold a nationwide march tomorrow.
The pan-blue camp first branded the march as an "anti-corruption parade." Later, it changed the official slogan to "change the president and salvage Taiwan." Obviously, the camp has felt the pressure presented by the 228 rally and also needs to mobilize its supporters to get out of the predicament.
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (
However, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the PFP themselves represent the force most connected with gangsters and business interests. Their anti-corruption move is tantamount to exposing their own wrongdoings for public scrutiny and ridicule. That's why they quickly changed their slogan to "change the president and salvage Taiwan."
With their motives behind altering the theme of the activity so obvious, PFP Legislator Lee Yong-ping (
Is the anti-corruption theme really not broad enough? It actually served as one of the major campaign themes for the DPP in the 2000 presidential election. It was also the reason behind Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh's (李遠哲) stepping forward to stump for then-candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Even many KMT figures admitted that the party has paid the price for its corruption with the loss of power. So the statement that the anti-corruption theme is not broad enough does not stand.
A few days ago, Taiwan Pineapple Group vice-chairman Huang Tsung-hung (
The reason why the human-chain rally could attract so many people is because the appeal of "protecting Taiwan hand-in-hand" touched the hearts of the Taiwanese people. Marketing theories contend that the most successful advertisements usually awaken the deepest desires of human beings. The success of the hand-in-hand rally lies in its successful eliciting of the deepest aspirations of the Taiwanese people.
Then, how about the slogan of "change the president and salvage Taiwan?" Burdened with the history of corruption, the KMT-PFP alliance can only mobilize those "reunification fundamentalists" to join in the march.
Let's wait and see how large a supporting base the pan-blue camp has even with its most thorough and effective mobilization. Let's see whether "changing the president" makes a more appealing appeal than "protecting Taiwan hand-in-hand." The 313 march provides the most stringent test for the pan-blue camp.
Chin Heng-wei is editor in chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Jennie Shih
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
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
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
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS