Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) recently responded to a letter he received from several US congressmen by saying the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government was responsible for stalling the arms-procurement bill.
Lien accused the government of delays in submitting the special budget for arms procurement to the legislature. He also queried why the size of the budget was much higher than the amount the Ministry of National Defense had proposed.
In addition, he rationalized the pan-blue camp's refusal to allow the bill onto the legislative agenda by saying that the arms deal had been rejected at the referendum held in tandem with last year's presidential election.
Lien's arguments are characteristically disingenuous. They also provide the real answer to why the bill has been put aside: The pan-blue camp, led by the KMT, has blocked it at every opportunity using whatever reason has seemed convenient at the time. And it seems that the pan-blue camp will continue to exclude the bill from legislative business into the future.
The awful truth is that the pan-blue camp has blocked the bill from proceeding to legislative review 72 times.
Lien said in his letter that the KMT believes Taiwan must be credible in its ability to defend itself, but also that it must not unilaterally change the cross-strait status quo. This "yes, but" argument clearly reflects the pro-China complex that energizes the pan-blue camp's refusal to do business with the Chen administration. It is reluctant to do anything that might anger Beijing. China is no longer a military threat since the KMT lost power: it is now the "motherland."
The dispatching of a navy frigate on Tuesday to near the Diaoyutais (
But for many Taiwanese, Japan is actually a regional ally in the face of China's military threat. It therefore makes perfect sense to set aside disputes over the Diaoyutais' sovereignty and work together with a good friend.
But KMT politicians, for example, have other commitments, including the need to juggle campaigning for party chairman with comforting China. Hence the provocative language in recent days toward Japan -- politically and militarily.
As Cabinet Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (
But instead, it continues to block the bill. Simple discussion of the problem at hand is completely out of order.
Before a united national identity can finally be forged, Taiwan's allies and friends need to reflect on just who their true friends in this country really are.
Taiwan needs to be equipped with advanced weaponry to strengthen its ability to defend itself against China's military juggernaut.
The US must continue to exert pressure, therefore, on the pan-blue camp so that a road can be paved for the passage of the arms bill.
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