On Thursday, the pan-blue-dominated legislature made many shocking and unprecedented cuts to the government's budget for this year. It is easy to see why some pan-green lawmakers are calling the budget cuts "retaliatory" in nature. A closer examination reveals that many of the cuts are not only often quite personal -- targeting specific individuals against whom the pan-blues hold a grudge -- but also have a very negative effect on the operation of the government. The only end being accomplished by the opposition is to teach the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government a lesson: The pan-blues are flexing their legislative muscle in an attempt to force the government to give in to its demand on issues in which the two camps do not see eye to eye. Behavior of this sort is completely irresponsible and unprofessional and should be condemned.
It came as no surprise that President Chen Shui-bian (
As if that were not enough, the legislature also demanded that the various special committees set up by the Presidential Office -- including the committees on human rights, science and technology, and constitutional reform, among others -- should be dissolved on the grounds that they have no legal basis. It should be well within the executive branch's power to set up these committees for consultation purposes. Furthermore, many of these committees were set up in accordance with the demands of the general public. Under the circumstances, the legislature can only be seen to be placing vengeance above all else.
The other two main targets were National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
At the end of the day, this country and its people will be the ones paying the real price, as the National Security Council cannot continue to function without funding.
As for Yao, he was "blacklisted" for repeatedly engaging in verbal arguments with pan-blue lawmakers. In addition to the major cuts made to many of the GIO minister's budgets, three-quarters of the GIO budget, excluding funds for utilities and personnel, is also being frozen.
One cannot help but wonder when this sort of childish behavior on the part of the legislature will cease. Don't the lawmakers know that every decision they make on the legislative floor has an impact on the well-being of the citizens of this country? If not, then they have no business being there. If so, they should learn to act in a more mature and responsible manner.
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