On Sunday afternoon, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) announced that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had invited Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to form a new Cabinet during their meeting the day before. Ma also said that the opposition camp was willing to negotiate with the president over the issue. Wang later said that during his meeting with the president he had actually recommended Ma for the premier's position.
However, the Presidential Office responded immediately to this, stating that the president had not invited Wang to form a Cabinet, and that he hoped to meet Ma in order to exchange opinions with him on national affairs.
Did or will Chen invite Wang to form a Cabinet? This question should be answered with regard to the 2000 transfer of power. With a Legislative Yuan formed by a minority ruling party and a majority opposition party, if Chen really allows the KMT to form a Cabinet, he will not only be giving up the Cabinet but also the entire administrative right, and the opposition will "take it all," as the president said before. By giving up power like this, the president would become nothing but a figurehead. Therefore, his invitation to Wang is certainly not "party-to-party." Plus, since the three-in-one elections, the pan-blue camp only enjoys a slim legislative majority. If the speaker is willing to help, the current situation of a minority ruling camp is likely to be reversed, and Taiwan's political situation is likely to move forward in a positive way.
The big question is, would Wang dare to leave the KMT in order to fight for Taiwan and himself? He has very little space within the party after his defeat by Ma in the chairmanship election. Today, Ma has no rivals as leader of the pan-blue camp, and appears to be their only candidate for the 2008 presidential election. At present, its seems unlikely that Wang would even be nominated as Ma's running mate. If he accepted Chen's invitation, he would be creating a new path for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as well as a new political career for himself. Unfortunately, it looks like he is still following Ma's lead and is unable to take bold action. With this in mind, Wang seems unlikely to accept the challenge, and so even if his political career does not come to an end, he is now firmly under Ma's control.
Wang's recommendation to make Ma premier was in itself absolutely absurd. If Chen invited Ma, the KMT chairman, to form a Cabinet, Ma's party would suddenly become the ruling party and Chen would be president in name only. Is that reasonable? In that case, why would Wang say so? Was he demonstrating his sincerity to Ma? Or was he "throwing a stone to clear the path," as the Chinese saying goes? The former seems to be more likely.
As for Ma, he quickly announced the news of Chen's invitation to Wang, to highlight Wang's frankness. He also met Wang the next morning to demonstrate that it is impossible for him to leave the KMT. Meanwhile, the Presidential Office issued a news release denying Wang's claim about the invitation. Even if Wang's claim was true, the possibility does not exist anymore. Wang doesn't dare to act on his own, and the proposed "party-to-party" negotiations are unlikely to occur. Even a Chen-Ma meeting is not very probable, quite apart from the fact that such a meeting is unlikely to produce much of significance.
To sum up, in the remainder of Chen's presidential term, he should act purposefully to maximize his administrative power, and do what he can. By doing so, he will win the Taiwanese people's support and may find a way out of his current predicament.
Chin Heng-wei is the editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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
RSS