The suicide of taxi driver Chen Tsai-fu (
What added to the anxiety the Peng Wan-ju case caused was that it came just days after the murder of Taoyuan county commissioner Liu Pang-you (
As for the Liu and Peng killings, since the police announced late yesterday that blood and fingerprint evidence showed that the hapless Chen was not Peng's killer, both cases remain unsolved.
The Liu-Peng-Pai cases were interpreted by many as showing that society was becoming unacceptably violent and dangerous. Eventually massive demonstrations occurred demanding the ouster of Lien Chan(
Yesterday's brief resurrection of the Peng case served to remind us of the absurd gestures that Taiwan cops seem prepared to make to prove they are on top of high profile cases. The problem is that when they don't follow through on these promises, as they invariably don't, they compound the impression of bad police work by appearing to have a regrettable lack of personal integrity. And if the top cops can't be trusted, what can be said about the small fry? The problem these cases showed up two years ago was how unprofessional Taiwan's police were since the force, for 40 years under martial law an adjunct to the military, was versed almost entirely in crowd and traffic control. What worries us is that, as these cases are now almost forgotten, so is the need for change.
Taiwan’s fall would be “a disaster for American interests,” US President Donald Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday last week, as he warned of the “dramatic deterioration of military balance” in the western Pacific. The Republic of China (Taiwan) is indeed facing a unique and acute threat from the Chinese Communist Party’s rising military adventurism, which is why Taiwan has been bolstering its defenses. As US Senator Tom Cotton rightly pointed out in the same hearing, “[although] Taiwan’s defense spending is still inadequate ... [it] has been trending upwards
There is nothing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could do to stop the tsunami-like mass recall campaign. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) reportedly said the party does not exclude the option of conditionally proposing a no-confidence vote against the premier, which the party later denied. Did an “actuary” like Chu finally come around to thinking it should get tough with the ruling party? The KMT says the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is leading a minority government with only a 40 percent share of the vote. It has said that the DPP is out of touch with the electorate, has proposed a bloated
In an eloquently written piece published on Sunday, French-Taiwanese education and policy consultant Ninon Godefroy presents an interesting take on the Taiwanese character, as viewed from the eyes of an — at least partial — outsider. She muses that the non-assuming and quiet efficiency of a particularly Taiwanese approach to life and work is behind the global success stories of two very different Taiwanese institutions: Din Tai Fung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). Godefroy said that it is this “humble” approach that endears the nation to visitors, over and above any big ticket attractions that other countries may have
The first Donald Trump term was a boon for Taiwan. The administration regularized the arms sales process and enhanced bilateral ties. Taipei will not be so fortunate the second time around. Given recent events, Taiwan must proceed with the assumption that it cannot count on the United States to defend it — diplomatically or militarily — during the next four years. Early indications suggested otherwise. The nomination of Marco Rubio as US Secretary of State and the appointment of Mike Waltz as the national security advisor, both of whom have expressed full-throated support for Taiwan in the past, raised hopes that
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