Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
In the month following the election, the pan-blue camp mobilized the masses to protest in front of the Presidential Office as part of their attempts at a revolution. They were exploiting the power of the people in their quest to overturn the government of President Chen Shui-bian (
This weekend Chen revealed a hitherto unknown fact, namely that after the election a retired general had asked high-ranking military leaders to exert pressure on the president either by having themselves admitted to hospital on false pretenses, or by tendering their resignations. The abortive seven-day coup was not an attempted military coup, but was intended as a "soft coup." Fortunately, the depoliticization of Taiwan's armed forces has already occurred with a considerable degree of success, and the "soft coup" failed.
The failure of the quasi-revolution brings us mixed feelings of anxiety and happiness. The anxiety is because certain elements in the KMT are willing to resort to any expedient to gain power, even to the extent of tainting the politically neutral military by encouraging senior officers to express their political views.
This violates Article 138 of the Constitution, which states that military personnel "shall be above personal, regional and party affiliation." At the same time, the blue camp has also violated Article 139 of the Constitution, which states that "no political party ... shall make use of the armed forces as an instrument in the struggle of political powers."
The blue camp does not respect the outcome of a democratic election, and refuses to trust the process of judicial arbitration; instead, it puts its faith in Machiavellian intrigue, which the blues believe is all that works. We are happy to see that the light of democracy in Taiwan has not been consumed by the darkness of political reactionism.
We can be happy that Taiwan's military has finally cast off its role as an army loyal only to the KMT, and has become an army loyal to the Republic of China, its Constitution and its people.
The army of the Republic of China was founded by Chiang Kai-shek (
During the process of Taiwan's democratization, the identification of the military as Chiang's army, which was the KMT's army, was questioned and subsequently challenged. With the passage of the Defense Ministry Organizational Law (
The last two presidential elections have been a severe test of Taiwan's democracy. The people of Taiwan have passed the test. Taiwan's military maintained its principles despite temptation. Taiwan's judiciary is still being tested, but it seems that only the blue camp's ability to grasp the concepts of democratization and rule of law has been marked by failure.
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
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS