If a poll were taken, it is likely that 90 percent of people would not be able to tell the difference between the emblem of the Republic of China (ROC) and that of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), for both are a white sun on a blue background. Both in color and design, the two emblems are almost identical, the only difference being that the rays of the sun in the KMT party emblem are longer than those in the ROC emblem. This might be intended to reflect the comparatively longer history of the KMT.
At a campaign rally on Sunday, President Chen Shui-bian (
There are virtually no historical examples in which a political party has used its emblem and its anthem as the national emblem and national anthem. When the ROC was established in 1912, its flag was a five-colored flag. It was not until 1928, after Chiang Kai-shek's (
Chiang wanted the KMT to rule for 10,000 years, but his political power was not built on the support of the people, so eventually the party revealed its feet of clay. The KMT was first drawn into a civil war in China, followed by a war of resistance, first against the Japanese then against the communists, before making a final retreat to Taiwan. But this did not change Chiang's belief in the supremacy of the party, so in 1954 he made amendments to the National Flag and National Emblem Law to further ensure that the KMT's flag and symbol were also those of the ROC.
At that time there were no other political parties to protest, because except for the Young China Party and the China Democratic Socialist Party -- which were both supported by the KMT -- all other political parties were outlawed, and anyone who wished to challenge this prohibition faced a prison sentence. But political power is a fundamental human right and the prohibitions of authoritarian regimes are by their nature temporary, for there will always be people outside the party who will work against them. In Taiwan's case, the KMT's ban on the establishment of political parties was lifted in 1988. If the KMT continues to be benighted by the symbolism of the ROC sharing the same emblem as the party, and does not seek to establish a real sense of identity with the people, then the KMT will yet again be rejected.
In demanding that the KMT change its party emblem, Chen is emphasizing that as the president of the ROC, he intends to remain true to the "four noes" of his 2000 inauguration speech and the fundamental ideas behind his "10 points" expounded earlier this year, namely that he would not create a new constitution or alter the ROC's territory. He is not only telling this to the people of Taiwan, but also broadcasting this information to the world.
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,
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