Amid what many see as dim prospects for change, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung
Both the timing and the changes made have been quite outside the premier's control. President Chen Shui-bian's
Chang had his own plans, based on the professional skills, performance, popularity ratings and coordination abilities of his Cabinet members. But the reshuffle list obviously has nothing to do with Chang's plan. It tells us nothing about the Cabinet's policy direction. Both Chen and Chang view the economy as crucial, but the premier has not been able to replace any of the economic and financial chiefs because the Presidential Office wouldn't approve such changes. Meanwhile, looking at the profile of the the new Cabinet members leaves us with no clearer idea of the government's policy direction.
If the reshuffle was meant to improve accountability, there is no sign of it. According to Chen, the most inefficient ministry was the transportation ministry. But Yen has retained her job, despite volunteering to go. Instead, EPA chief Lin Chun-yi
If the change was meant to improve consensus within the Cabinet, it will have exactly the opposite effect. Outgoing AEC Chairman Hsia Der-yu
Also, Hau's appointment will not promote harmony between political parties because the New Party will not change its policies just because Hau is now a Cabinet member. That opposition parties do not moderate their behavior when their own are drafted into the Cabinet was quite adequately demonstrated by the melancholy precedent of Tang Fei
The shuffle is perhaps best interpreted as a feeble attempt at crisis management. But this time the crisis is the lack of direction in the DPP government. Like a boat adrift at sea, Taiwan politics is moving beyond the control of the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan and the DPP. The boat's passengers can be thankful that they have only encountered small squalls so far. They can only pray that they are not hit with a real typhoon.
The US Senate’s passage of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which urges Taiwan’s inclusion in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise and allocates US$1 billion in military aid, marks yet another milestone in Washington’s growing support for Taipei. On paper, it reflects the steadiness of US commitment, but beneath this show of solidarity lies contradiction. While the US Congress builds a stable, bipartisan architecture of deterrence, US President Donald Trump repeatedly undercuts it through erratic decisions and transactional diplomacy. This dissonance not only weakens the US’ credibility abroad — it also fractures public trust within Taiwan. For decades,
In 1976, the Gang of Four was ousted. The Gang of Four was a leftist political group comprising Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members: Jiang Qing (江青), its leading figure and Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) last wife; Zhang Chunqiao (張春橋); Yao Wenyuan (姚文元); and Wang Hongwen (王洪文). The four wielded supreme power during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but when Mao died, they were overthrown and charged with crimes against China in what was in essence a political coup of the right against the left. The same type of thing might be happening again as the CCP has expelled nine top generals. Rather than a
Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmaker Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) on Saturday won the party’s chairperson election with 65,122 votes, or 50.15 percent of the votes, becoming the second woman in the seat and the first to have switched allegiance from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to the KMT. Cheng, running for the top KMT position for the first time, had been termed a “dark horse,” while the biggest contender was former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), considered by many to represent the party’s establishment elite. Hau also has substantial experience in government and in the KMT. Cheng joined the Wild Lily Student
Taipei stands as one of the safest capital cities the world. Taiwan has exceptionally low crime rates — lower than many European nations — and is one of Asia’s leading democracies, respected for its rule of law and commitment to human rights. It is among the few Asian countries to have given legal effect to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant of Social Economic and Cultural Rights. Yet Taiwan continues to uphold the death penalty. This year, the government has taken a number of regressive steps: Executions have resumed, proposals for harsher prison sentences
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