For the sake of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance, some people within the camp should come up with the guts to tell KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) that their latest demand -- that a new election be held -- will likely work against them.
The pan-blue's offbeat performance after the election has not only provoked the resentment of the 50 percent of voters who voted for President Chen Shui-bian (
During this past week, two surveys conducted by pro-pan-blue Chinese-language newspapers released on Monday and yesterday indicated that the majority of the general public disagrees with the massive protest going on in front the Presidential Office. The poll released on Monday cited a figure of 65 percent, and yesterday's poll 59 percent.
Also, by Wednesday, virtually all major news media, including those that are pro-blue, began to urge the alliance leaders to accept the proposal offered by Chen to amend the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Law (
The pan-blues have nothing to blame for this but their own ridiculous handling of their defeat. While their sense of disappointment and anger from losing on such a narrow margin -- 0.228 percent -- is understandable, their handling of the situation is not. Leaving aside the issue of the inherent danger in inciting tens of thousands of highly-volatile supporters to take to the streets in protest, the way that the pan-blues have repeatedly escalated and shifted their demands not only tries the patience of everyone, but reveals a very fundamental problem within the camp -- the absence of crisis-management and decision-making abilities.
On the evening of his election defeat, Lien stated that he wanted to file a "a lawsuit overturning the election result." That, of course, was entirely within his right, and very likely he will eventually be entitled to a judicial recount of the votes. However, once all the ballot boxes were sealed by the courts 12 hours after his speech, the pan-blues changed their mind and began to ask for an immediate administrative recount, because such a lawsuit could take months.
That was an impossible demand, since the law does not provide for administrative recounts. But when Chen agreed to amend the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Law to have an administrative recount by next Tuesday, the pan-blues then refused the offer and also refused to review a bill that they themselves had submitted to the Legislative Yuan for that purpose earlier. Instead, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Then on Wednesday, sensing that a recount would be unlikely to overturn the election result, Lien and his supporters began to talk about holding a new election which is only possible if a verdict is entered, finding the past election to be illegal. This means that Lien and Soong will have to go back to square one -- filing lawsuits and seeking judicial relief.
So, can somebody from the pan-blue camp please explain to the rest of us what was the purpose of all the charades over this past week?
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
Last week, 24 Republican representatives in the US Congress proposed a resolution calling for US President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon the US’ “one China” policy, calling it outdated, counterproductive and not reflective of reality, and to restore official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, enter bilateral free-trade agreement negotiations and support its entry into international organizations. That is an exciting and inspiring development. To help the US government and other nations further understand that Taiwan is not a part of China, that those “one China” policies are contrary to the fact that the two countries across the Taiwan Strait are independent and
RSS