A thorough look at current Taiwanese politics often prompts people to call for an end to the political standoff and for rational dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition.
As Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Certainly, one of Ma's key responsibilities is to make a comeback after the party's consecutive losses in the last two presidential elections. The expectations of the majority of the public, however, center more on the hope that he will help bring back normal party competition and halt the opposition's obstructionism.
While President Chen Shui-bian (
Ma lacks a strong determination to present a vision for the country. He will need to use new thinking to find a way to forge constructive interaction with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government and bring about institutional checks and balances in Taiwanese politics.
It is sad to see that he has focused most of his efforts over the past few weeks on trying to appease his defeated competitor in the chairmanship race, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-ping (
In doing so, Ma has failed to live up to KMT voters' expectations that he would inject fresh air into the century-old party, and has disappointed the public by hesitating to outline a clear plan for engaging in a rational and policy-oriented contest with the DPP.
It is natural for Ma to incorporate a prudent and incremental approach to consolidate his power in the new KMT power structure. Nevertheless, more concrete steps and determined action will be needed to remold the party and reorganize the pan-blue camp. One of the main challenges that Ma will encounter is establishing an internal democratic decision-making mechanism.
The key for Ma lies in the extent to which he can distinguish himself from Lien's obstructionism against the Chen administration over several crucial legislative bills that the government has pushed forward intensively in the past months.
In other words, Ma should reorient the KMT's consistent and destructive strategy of "boycotting everything proposed by the president" and persuade the KMT's ally, the People First Party, to play the role of the "loyal opposition."
Moreover, Ma must prevent the pan-blue camp from making all its political calculations based simply on individual party interests -- at the expense of the public's needs.
The public has witnessed the verbal wars between the DPP government and the pan-blue opposition for the past five years. Ma's inauguration is an opportunity to open a new era of reconciliation and dialogue -- but only if he can employ political wisdom and pragmatism.
In any democracy, checks and balances between political parties are normal. A dutiful opposition certainly may criticize the administration and articulate its opinions in order to win the next election, and the public can judge the truth and fairness of its criticisms. A smart leader, however, must grasp the pulse of society and take aggressive action to meet the public's expectations.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
Two weeks ago, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) raised hackles in Taiwan by posting to her 2.6 million Instagram followers that she was visiting “Taipei, China.” Yeoh’s post continues a long-standing trend of Chinese propaganda that spreads disinformation about Taiwan’s political status and geography, aimed at deceiving the world into supporting its illegitimate claims to Taiwan, which is not and has never been part of China. Taiwan must respond to this blatant act of cognitive warfare. Failure to respond merely cedes ground to China to continue its efforts to conquer Taiwan in the global consciousness to justify an invasion. Taiwan’s government
This month’s news that Taiwan ranks as Asia’s happiest place according to this year’s World Happiness Report deserves both celebration and reflection. Moving up from 31st to 27th globally and surpassing Singapore as Asia’s happiness leader is gratifying, but the true significance lies deeper than these statistics. As a society at the crossroads of Eastern tradition and Western influence, Taiwan embodies a distinctive approach to happiness worth examining more closely. The report highlights Taiwan’s exceptional habit of sharing meals — 10.1 shared meals out of 14 weekly opportunities, ranking eighth globally. This practice is not merely about food, but represents something more
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
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
RSS