The competition during the election campaign was the fiercest in Taiwan's election history. The chaos during the campaign was also unprecedented.
Specious statements were disseminated both domestically and internationally in attempts to influence the election, and politicians used freedom of speech as an excuse to have the media spread information aimed at slandering their opponents. The mass media's unrestricted dissemination of politicians' undisciplined behavior led to immeasurable social damage, affected public order and halted the development of social fairness and justness.
Democratic societies are particular about the freedom of speech, and encouraging everyone to express their different ideas is a phenomenon particular to diversified societies. Democratic societies, however, are not societies where one can do whatever irresponsible thing one pleases -- we all have to take responsibility for our actions.
In other words, without verifying facts, politicians may not arbitrarily challenge the integrity and morals of others and use the ubiquitous media apparatus to slander opponents and destroy their reputation, claiming that they are doing so to reveal a malpractice. Evidence in support of the truth may then begin to appear, proving that the target has been the victim of slander. But even though the truth then is clear for all to see, the damage has already been done because the untruths have been so widely disseminated.
Advanced societies should possess mature soul-searching capabilities and be restricted by legal and moral standards.
We have all seen the chaos following in the wake of the presidential election. Politicians doing their utmost to slander and humiliate their opponents obviously provide negative examples for social education in Taiwan. If we are incapable of standing up against their disorderly behavior, then Taiwan will see the disappearance of justice and the further spread of social confusion and unease.
Chen Lung-chu is the chairman of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
RSS