While most recent attention has focused on what messages President Chen Shui-bian (
How should we anticipate this "A-bian era"? Can Chen continue to build his leadership based on democratic principles and decisive actions?
That Chen garnered over half the popular vote is indisputable. The question now is how he will manage this new mandate in accordance with public expectations and translate his campaign messages into concrete actions.
A political leader should monitor the pulse of the times in which he lives. He need not mute his desire for change or modify his ideas, but he must make sure his style matches the public's mood.
The election showed that Chen and his government have been in line with the mainstream public opinion in terms of promoting national identity. Further, the returns imply that over 50 percent of voters trust that Chen will continue reforms in political institutions, crime-fighting, education and economic rejuvenation.
With such a mandate, Chen need not limit his goals. However, he must skillfully lower his voice, bend his knees and take smaller steps. After all, the razor-thin victory reveals a divided society. How to regain the public's trust in his leadership and in the government will be one of Chen's challenges.
A smart leader should realize when the national mood has changed. Exhausted by partisan disputes, ethnic divisions and extremism on both sides of the unification-independence dichotomy, the country wants political leaders to resolve their differences.
Therefore, learning how to be both a "bargaining" president and an "action" president will be the key to Chen's success in the next four years.
To fulfill his pledges, Chen must build a clear strategy for implementing them. He must accelerate his proposals to establish task forces to reduce ethnic divisions, and must maintain peaceful and stable interactions with China.
To bridge partisan differences and pursue political reconciliation with the opposition, Chen should follow a strategy of persuasion and bargaining to seek common ground on key policies.
Even the year-end legislative election might inhibit constructive cooperation between political parties. Chen needs to continue to serve as a father figure to help the public learn that the country faces both domestic and international difficulties. The extent to which political parties can put aside their differences and work together for the common people's good will determine the nation's future.
The power to negotiate determines whether Chen should be aggressive or conciliatory in promoting his policies. When he speaks out boldly to set an agenda for constitutional revision by 2006, should he focus on incremental change rather than radical adjustments? Is it time to run up the flag and charge, or to mediate differences and seek to move the consensus by stages?
Chen must act like a CEO who insists on tough discipline among his team, for the partially reorganized Cabinet acts as his policy executor. There is no room for the administration to repeat its mistakes.
Chen should keep in mind that politicians do not just need public support to win elections; they need it to govern. A politician needs a permanent campaign to keep a permanent majority, but this goal does not mean abandoning principle. It means caring enough about how you explain yourself to get the nation solidly behind you.
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