The pan-blues do not care about Taiwan. They care only about attaining power, and their misconceived dreams of grandeur endanger the survival of Taiwan as an independent and democratic state.
Depending on your point of view, the chaotic dissonance of the pan-blues' policy statements has been either intensely amusing or deeply depressing. What their statements have not been is coherent and practical.
Most worrying of all are the deep ideological rifts between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Should this mismatched duo become responsible for anything more consequential than making a photocopy, it will be disastrous. And I would suggest letting one of their colleagues use the copy machine. Maybe Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
In any event, the rift is increasingly evident, and the hackneyed attempts at papering over the lack of consensus simply highlight the dysfunction of the pan-blue alliance. Consider the statements made by Lien and Soong regarding the nationwide referendum.
Lien tells us that he will not take part in the ballot, but will respect the people's choice in the matter. This well-planned policy stance appears to embrace all the philosophical elements of "well, I dunno, so, you know, uhhh ... whatever."
Meanwhile, Soong says the "illegal" referendum should never take place, and it would be better to ignore it altogether. Of course, it has never occurred to Soong that instead of throwing a tantrum ("I don't wanna play referendum"), he would do well to propose an alternative solution to the issues involved. But that would require forethought and a belief system, instead of mere malignant opportunism.
Of greater import is the inability of Lien and Soong to share an opinion about how to deal with China. Lien calls for a "confederation" and says that Taiwan ought to just focus on economic integration with China, leaving the "political" cross-strait issues to future generations. Does Lien actually believe that politics and economics have nothing to do with each other?
Then, Soong calls for "one China under one roof," buying into the intellectually bankrupt and historically inaccurate pan-Chinese nationalist uberkultur myth.
What "one roof" would mean in practice isn't clear (Does it mean one government? One leader? Perhaps an actual Great Roof, to accompany the Great Wall?). But certainly what "one China under one roof" means for Taiwan is not political autonomy.
So how will the KMT-PFP reconcile these positions if they attain power?
What will they actually do about the threat from China?
Pretending that the Chinese are not expanding their missile forces and overall military capabilities in order to force a solution to the "Taiwan issue" on terms favorable to Beijing is irresponsible.
Were it not for the possibility the pan-blues could win the election, it would be easy to mock the disjointed and nonsensical campaign strategies employed by the KMT-PFP alliance. The "313 Rally" is an especially fitting symbol for the pan-blues.
Some people might wonder why the KMT-PFP chose today for their counter-rally.
A close reading of Taiwan's history will clarify this matter immediately. The rally will be held on the important and auspicious date of March 13 because ... it's a Saturday.
And what does the KMT tell us we will celebrate on this, our most revered last Saturday before the presidential election?
Well, anti-black-gold, of course. It's an anti-black-gold rally. It's anti-black-gold Saturday.
Apparently they were so flustered by the success of the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally the pan-blues thought their best move was to throw together their own rally around a generally inoffensive theme. In a stunning display of political acumen, they never considered that the DPP would then simply say "Hey, we're against corruption, too. See you on Saturday!"
This is precisely what the DPP did.
So the KMT-PFP had to change tactics again.
The organizer of the pan-blues' election campaign, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Quite a subtle message, really.
So now the DPP can't take part. Brilliant.
There is a colloquial American term that applies to the pan-blues' planning. It is "piss poor."
If the pan-blues can't even manage a pep rally, how can they run a country?
And equally important, if Lien and Soong are thrown into a panic because of a peace rally, what would they do if there was a real crisis in cross-strait relations?
Mac William Bishop is a political commentator based in Taipei.
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to