Although the Taiwanese government has yet to decide whether to accept China's offer of two giant pandas, Beijing has already named the pair "Tuan-tuan" (
Taiwan has been understandably hesitant over accepting the pandas. At a Council of Agriculture meeting last Friday, the majority of the experts attending believed that the pandas should not be removed from their natural habitat. The council will announce its decision on the pandas on April 3.
The problem does not lie with the pandas per se. They are adorable and hold considerable appeal to the Taiwanese public. The problem is the conditions imposed by Beijing. These pandas are also a souvenir of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan's (
This is perfectly clear in the manner the gift is being made. By refusing to present the pandas officially to the government of Taiwan, China seems to be opting for the back door rather than the main gate. Taiwan has little option but to reject a gift given in this manner. If Taiwan accepts the gift of the pandas via an opposition party or private organization, this would set a capitulationist tone for cross-strait relations.
According to international conventions, exporting endangered species is prohibited. But from China's perspective, the matter is simple: If Taiwan is a part of China, export rules simply do not apply. Accepting the pandas would then be tantamount to telling the world that Taiwan accepts the "one China" principle.
If the pandas are nevertheless brought to Taiwan, they will certainly be given a warm welcome, with the public fighting for a glimpse of these creatures at an overcrowded zoo. But politically, the pandas' presence will be a black eye for Taiwan. This is something that the government cannot accept.
Whether the pandas take up residence in Taipei Zoo, Taichung's Takeng Zoo, or the Leofoo Village Theme Park, all are captive environments. They are not a natural habitat for pandas to live and breed in. For the pandas, moving to Taiwan would be a case of killing them with love.
China has lent its pandas to a number of US zoos as a symbol of goodwill. This led to a period of intense public interest in the animals. But now that the excitement has died down, the fees for the loan of the animals have become a burden. The New York Times recently reported that the Atlanta Zoo and three other US zoos are finding the annual US$2 million fees paid for the animals increasingly onerous. Feeding the animals their special diet is also a burden. As a result, the zoos said that they are considering returning the animals to China if they cannot reach some agreement on lowering the fees.
If the pandas are able to overcome the political obstacles that stand in their way, then the Taiwanese public will be able to enjoy the sight of these rare creatures. If not, everyone in Taiwan can still breathe a sigh of relief and wish the pandas a happy life in their natural habitat. There would be a valuable lesson to be learned from that: One does not have to possess something to be able to appreciate it.
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,
RSS