It's about time that the pan-blue camp realized what damage it is doing to Taiwan and put an end to its ridiculous efforts to recall the president.
Its attempts to spark a Philippines-style "people power" movement and oust the president have so far failed miserably, with only diehard pan-blue fans answering the call to take to the streets.
Maybe this has something to do with the fact that the Taiwanese electorate was not surprised to find out that some politicians, their aides and relatives may have been abusing their positions to fill their own pockets. If they were concerned about such things then why would the people of Taitung and Taichung counties regularly elect people like Wu Chun-li (
Or could it be the fact that People First Party Chairman James Soong (
It is patently obvious to anyone with an iota of political knowledge that the real reason for Soong's leading role is because he is trying to rescue his flagging career and bolster his popularity for a crack at the Taipei mayorship. Since Ma Ying-jeou (
Of course the president's inner circle and his family should be punished if they are found guilty of corruption. But they should not be subject to "trial by TVBS" or any other kind of PFP or KMT-led kangaroo court. The nation's investigators should be allowed the time and space they need to get on with their job.
We have already seen what a one-sided legislative probe can produce with the 319 shooting special truth investigation committee: a lot of hot air, speculation and absolutely no concrete proof.
But the saddest thing about this whole recall affair is that it has cruelly exposed Ma's weak position. Many fence-sitting Taiwanese must have had high hopes for Ma and the KMT after he swept to the chairmanship last year on promises of clean politics and party reform.
And many of them may have believed that he had miraculously transformed the KMT from a super-rich party of vote-buyers and career carpetbaggers into an ultra-clean party of paupers.
When plans for a recall bid first appeared, Ma was the voice of reason, in contrast to other pan-blue figures screaming for the head of Chen Shui-bian (
By letting himself be press-ganged into supporting the recall bid, Ma has shown that the same deep-blue elements that cannot stand to see Taiwan ruled by a pro-localization regime still hold the KMT's reins of power. It has become increasingly clear that they will stop at nothing in their bid to oust the president, even if it means creating more division in Taiwan's already deeply-split society.
The high threshold required to recall the president means that their bid has been doomed from the start, and the pan-blue camp is well aware of this. They have only further demonstrated to the general public what a bitter, hateful bunch they really are.
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
RSS