People who are new to the nation's political scene are often bemused by the colors that are attached to various parties and political phrases. For instance, "black gold" -- referring to corrupt money -- "White Terror," "red" China fever. Or the colors green, representing the pro-independence ideals of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), and blue, associated with the pro-unification KMT and People First Party (PFP).
Last Sunday's KMT campaign rally, however, raised the question of whether Saturday's local government elections will be the usual battle between blue and green camps, or instead a fight between supporters of green and yellow -- the latter color representing the New Party, with the symbolism of "pure Chinese."
Marching alongside KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Where was Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Poor Wang. After trying hard to pretend he was one of "them" -- that is, one of the "Chinese" -- during his chairmanship campaign against Ma in June, he is still not "pure" enough to be in their league. Now, with Ma at the helm of the KMT, Wang appears to have been shunted aside, along with the rest of the so-called "pro-localization" faction of the KMT.
In the wake of recent corruption scandals involving the DPP administration, there have been calls from disappointed pan-green supporters to boycott Saturday's election in order to teach the DPP a lesson. While this view is understandable, in Taiwan -- which hasn't yet become a "normal" country -- ?such boycotts would only hurt the nation as a whole. They would send the wrong message to a hostile China, which covets Taiwan and every day searches for ways to annex it.
The true power of the people lies in the ballots in their hands. By exercising their fundamental right to vote, the people are demonstrating this strength. Likewise, giving up on voting means giving up the sovereignty of the people. This only leaves room for opportunistic politicians to pursue their cynical machinations, unhindered by the public will.
With Lien's speech at Peking University in May, the KMT made public its alliance with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Saturday's elections can therefore be seen as part of a long-term campaign by the KMT, in cahoots with "Red" China, to annex Taiwan. It is fair to say that a victory for the pan-blue camp would be tantamount to a victory for the CCP.
Some pan-greens fear that if they vote for the DPP, the party will not engage in much-needed reflection and reform. But in thinking in such a way, people are mistakenly equating the DPP with the pan-green camp -- ?and punishing the entire camp for the DPP's sins. The fact is, there are other pan-green choices available, such as the TSU.
Rather than sitting at home watching cable news and ranting about the DPP administration, it is time for angry Taiwanese to show their true colors with their votes.
Only by safeguarding Taiwan's pro-localization identity through the ballot box can the nation's democracy be safeguarded and consolidated.
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
RSS