During the extraordinary legislative session on Monday, the Legislative Yuan finally completed the historical mission of Taiwan's constitutional reform when it officially passed the constitutional amendments to reduce the number of legislative seats from 225 to 113 and replace the "multi-member district, single-vote" system by a "single-member district, two-vote" system. The amendments were made in accordance with the rational ideology of legislative reform in advanced democratic countries. They will further strengthen the nation's relatively weak democratic tradition, so that Taiwan can catch up with both Japan and South Korea, and become a model democratic Asian country.
During the constitutional reform process, discordant voices could be heard from both the ruling and opposition parties. This really worried the non-governmental groups which were concerned about the reform issue. But the Nuke-4 Referendum Initiative Association, led by Lin I-hsiung (
The significance of the legislative reforms lies in underlining the will of the people to overcome powerful political interest groups through the mobilization of public opinion and making use of democratic procedures. This kind of democracy is still rare and precious in Asia. As Lin said, the quality of Taiwan's politics is not dependant on the number of legislative seats, but on the quality of the politicians who fill them. The untrustworthiness and bad reputation of some politicians has caused public resentment for many years. Therefore, the upsurge of public opinion that has brought about this legislative reform is a punishment for the poor quality of legislative activity, and sounds the death knell for those politicians who cannot keep faith with the public.
The unprecedented cooperation of the four main parties in pushing through legislative reforms seems to indicate that the chances of future constitutional reforms, or even a new constitution, have been greatly increased. The current Constitution is clearly no longer a sacred text that cannot be altered. Moreover, despite China's threats and bullying to prevent the reform process, Taiwanese forged ahead in a determined manner. Taiwan's four major parties have cooperated in conforming to the public's will, and have created a great victory for democracy. This is the beginning of a new era for Taiwan's identity.
The legislative downsizing and the adoption of a "single-member district, two-vote" system will come into force in the seventh legislative elections, which take place in 2007 (the legislature will be swon in in 2008). It is expected that Taiwan's political environment will change as a result, becoming dominated by two political blocs which might incorporate other, smaller parties. If the year-end legislative elections prove to be detrimental to the interests, or even the survival, of small parties, then the shift to two political parties is even more unavoidable. If this is the case, Taiwan will inevitably tend toward establishing a presidential system of government, which will gradually replace the unbalanced dual-executive system currently in place. It is the achievement of Taiwan, after 50 years of authoritarian rule, to now be firmly established on the road to democracy. This is a substantial symbol of the will of the Taiwanese people. If this political will is maintained, it is likely that referendums may also be written into the Constitution. Then there will be no cause for foreigners to criticize Taiwan's internal affairs any more.
US$18.278 billion is a simple dollar figure; one that’s illustrative of the first Trump administration’s defense commitment to Taiwan. But what does Donald Trump care for money? During President Trump’s first term, the US defense department approved gross sales of “defense articles and services” to Taiwan of over US$18 billion. In September, the US-Taiwan Business Council compared Trump’s figure to the other four presidential administrations since 1993: President Clinton approved a total of US$8.702 billion from 1993 through 2000. President George W. Bush approved US$15.614 billion in eight years. This total would have been significantly greater had Taiwan’s Kuomintang-controlled Legislative Yuan been cooperative. During
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in recent days was the focus of the media due to his role in arranging a Chinese “student” group to visit Taiwan. While his team defends the visit as friendly, civilized and apolitical, the general impression is that it was a political stunt orchestrated as part of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda, as its members were mainly young communists or university graduates who speak of a future of a unified country. While Ma lived in Taiwan almost his entire life — except during his early childhood in Hong Kong and student years in the US —
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers on Monday unilaterally passed a preliminary review of proposed amendments to the Public Officers Election and Recall Act (公職人員選罷法) in just one minute, while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, government officials and the media were locked out. The hasty and discourteous move — the doors of the Internal Administration Committee chamber were locked and sealed with plastic wrap before the preliminary review meeting began — was a great setback for Taiwan’s democracy. Without any legislative discussion or public witnesses, KMT Legislator Hsu Hsin-ying (徐欣瑩), the committee’s convener, began the meeting at 9am and announced passage of the
In response to a failure to understand the “good intentions” behind the use of the term “motherland,” a professor from China’s Fudan University recklessly claimed that Taiwan used to be a colony, so all it needs is a “good beating.” Such logic is risible. The Central Plains people in China were once colonized by the Mongolians, the Manchus and other foreign peoples — does that mean they also deserve a “good beating?” According to the professor, having been ruled by the Cheng Dynasty — named after its founder, Ming-loyalist Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功, also known as Koxinga) — as the Kingdom of Tungning,
RSS