As the recent focus of legislative bickering in Taiwan seems to be centered on money, the pensions of former presidents, salaries of government ministers, houses viewed by the president's family and so on, one would think that there could only be one winner.
After all, the battle is being fought between the world's once richest political party, who fled to an island with nothing -- apart from the contents of the National Palace Museum and probably China's cash reserves -- and enriched themselves at the expense of the local inhabitants over the next 50 years, and a party formed from a fledgling democracy movement made up of a few lawyers who only came into being about 20 years ago. If the Democratic Progressive Party play it right, there should only be one winner in this battle.
But casting one's mind back to last year's US presidential election, a battle on national security was fought between a decorated war hero, who signed up voluntarily to fight in an unpopular war and distinguished himself in battle and a guy who deserted from the home guard (not even the real army), and the coward won.
This just goes to show that in modern politics, with all the spin whizzing around, that you can never trust the people to make the right decision. One can only wait and hope that Taiwan's electorate can see through the blue smokescreen being created for the upcoming elections.
On a side note, in an article (Ma hits the campaign trail for KMT, Oct 23, page 3) you referred to Lien Sheng-wen (連勝文), Lien Chan's son, as a pan-blue heavyweight. I hardly think that his recent election to the Central Standing Committee immediately qualifies him for this title. Could it be he was given this description because he is the son of the recently retired KMT chairman, or the other more likely possibility is that you were referring to his well-publicized battle with his own waistline?
Henry Blackhand
Taipei
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
Last week, 24 Republican representatives in the US Congress proposed a resolution calling for US President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon the US’ “one China” policy, calling it outdated, counterproductive and not reflective of reality, and to restore official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, enter bilateral free-trade agreement negotiations and support its entry into international organizations. That is an exciting and inspiring development. To help the US government and other nations further understand that Taiwan is not a part of China, that those “one China” policies are contrary to the fact that the two countries across the Taiwan Strait are independent and
RSS