With polls showing Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Both Ma and Wang were criticized by the DPP for their conservative pro-China stances. But given the constituency they are competing for, anything else could hardly be expected. It was inevitable that Ma should make his ritual denunciation of Taiwan's independence. But it was interesting to note that he also pointed out that "one country, two systems" was unacceptable to Taiwan. This was encouraging. Of course, Ma was only saying what is true, but that was unusual in itself for a party where lies usually compete with pipe dreams for prominence.
While Lien has not actually endorsed "one country, two systems," he has not been willing to frankly spell out its unacceptability to China. Ma on the other hand has been something of a thorn in China's side on the erosion of democratic standards in Hong Kong and its human-rights situation in general. Ma, it appears, will want to tread a fine line between stressing Taiwan's Chineseness (during his terms as mayor he has been a tireless promoter of "mainland Chinese" cultural forms and activities) and his apparent dislike of the government and political system of contemporary China. Since the Chinese Communist Party has no intention of changing in any significant way, Ma's chairmanship of the KMT might result in an expected froideur between two parties which have, under Lien's misguided leadership, been hand in glove.
Another area which surprised was Ma's attitude toward the KMT's assets. Ma came out quite strongly against the KMT's holding on to any "illegal" assets. This was interesting because the KMT has claimed that it has no illegal assets, despite a Control Yuan investigation establishing that it stole over 400 properties from the state. Ma seems ready to admit there are illegally acquired assets and that these assets should be restored to their rightful owners. He claimed that the KMT had a right to defend its legally acquired assets, which of course it does. But given the Control Yuan's findings and Ma's legal background, it will be interesting to see how he interprets what is "legally acquired." Given his reputation for opposing corruption -- the zeal over which lost him his post as justice minister nearly a decade ago -- some might expect Ma to be honest about the KMT's ill-gotten gains and give them back. But it should also be pointed out that Ma appears to have been quite happy to tolerate the high level of corruption among his political allies in Taipei during his mayorship, as well as frequently sheltering his people from the consequences of their administrative incompetence.
"Reform is not just a slogan," Ma said on Sunday. So far, under Lien, it has been. Remember the farce about putting the KMT's assets into trust? And can Ma really make good on his promise? Certainly nobody expects reform from his opponent, Wang, -- the party's bagman-in-chief for nearly a decade.
Initial opposition in the party to Ma's campaign was based on fear that his lack of tolerance for corruption would step on too many toes. If he is serious, Ma's chairmanship could be very interesting indeed.
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
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
RSS