A massive rally in support of the government's arms-procurement budget is to take place today. The main purpose of the rally is to push for the speedy legislative review and approval of the special arms budget, as well as to highlight the importance of self-defense to Taiwan on the country's path toward "normalization."
It is open knowledge that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) have worked together to block the deliberation of the arms procurement budget by the legislature a total of 29 times. The bill has not even managed to make it to the legislative floor so far.
This farce has gone on for so long that even the US is questioning whether the government is serious about buying the weapons package on offer. So, it is high time for the people of Taiwan to step up and voice their support for the bill. Through today's rally, they can let the rest of the world and the US see that they do know the importance of maintaining a self-defense capability and that the pan-blue lawmakers do not represent the mainstream popular will on sovereignty-related issues.
Reportedly last week former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage told President Chen Shui-bian (
While as with any other multi-party democracy, competition and differences between the two major political parties in the US, it is nothing close to what the people of Taiwan have endured from the bickering between the pan-blues and pan-greens over the past few years.
The resentment that the pan-blue camp feels toward the Chen government has multiple roots -- the two biggest ones perhaps being kicked out of office in the 2000 presidential election and their confused sense of national identity. The former, aggravated by a second consecutive presidential defeat last year, has grown into an almost personal hatred, not only on the part of former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
On the other hand, the gap in national identification between the pan-blues and pan-greens has an even deeper and more complicated impact on the country -- the disputes over arms procurement being just one symptom. Obviously, the biggest and some would even say the only real enemy of Taiwan is its neighbor across the Taiwan Strait. Despite Beijing's rapid military build up and its missile threats to Taiwan, some segments in this country continue to view Taiwan as part of the great and mighty "China." They object to anything that stand in the way of "Chinese unification," let along buying arms to stand up against Beijing.
However, it must be made clear that the mainstream popular will is supportive of the arms procurement plan and fully aware of the military threat from China. Today's rally will provide an opportunity for these people to speak up and to pressure the pan-blue camp to answer to the demands and desires of the people of this country. Hopefully, the deadlock in the legislature can come to an end immediately -- for the sake of the nation.
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
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
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
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of