Following President Chen Shui-bian's (
Since 1991, the Constitution of the Republic of China (ROC) has passed through seven rounds of amendments, a high number compared to the constitutional history of other nations. Nevertheless, the Constitution is still far from satisfactory and there have been calls for further amendments. The heart of the matter is that the current Constitution was drawn up for a nation that encompassed China and its vast population, rather than the small nation of Taiwan.
Constitutional amendments face many more hurdles in Taiwan than in other countries. Some of these reflect domestic pressures, such as the desire of conservatives to leave the main text intact, while adding and subtracting articles, to preserve the continuity of the ROC's constitutional "legitimacy." On the international front, Taiwan is also prevented from drawing up a new constitution for fear of international perceptions that it is seeking independence. Amendment is further hindered by the requirement of a three-quarters majority in the legislature to pass amendments. Each round of constitutional amendment has been confined to resolving urgent political matters. Constitutional reform has therefore undergone many twists and turns, reflecting ongoing conflicts and compromises.
In 1990, most people believed that the original spirit of the Constitution tended toward a Cabinet system, and therefore proposed amendments based on this understanding. Following then-president Lee Teng-hui's (
A year ago, the majority of people favored a shift from the current dual-executive system to a presidential system, under which there is a clearer division of power and responsibility. But following the surge of support that brought Ma Ying-jeou (
Now that constitutional amendment has built up some momentum, it should be directed at longer-term goals. The public should be allowed to participate in the debate, there should be bottom-up discussions between the political parties, and the public should be educated about the importance of the nation's fundamental document. This will establish the new constitution as a foundation of long-term political and administrative stability.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
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