This nation's political and military predicament makes for strange bedfellows among foreign observers. Right-wing hawks and military figures in the US get into bed (in a manner of speaking) with environmental activists, pro-democracy idealists and sympathizers in Europe defending our self-determination against pseudo-leftist diehards, "Greater China" advocates, multinational corporations and governments enthralled at China's apparent riches.
This brew is reflected in the paradox of betrayal that is unraveling the pan-blue agenda of unification and the self-interest that is derailing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Traditionally the defender of a governmental and political system that it manipulated at will, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) portrays itself today as defender of the underprivileged and the ethnically vulnerable, guardian of administrative virtue and the sole agent capable of maintaining the nation's economic health. Yet it espouses oneness with a society that will grow more and more desperate in its attempts to fulfill these demands in its own territory.
The DPP, which inherited a system in need of widespread reform, has been intimidated by the sheer size of its mission and the dedication required to complete it. Since the transfer of power, the party has been witness to the rise of the tricky and the cunning at the expense of the capable and the diligent. The good work that has been done under the Chen administration cannot compete with the bad press, nor with the disappointment of supporters and former supporters who feel that vital opportunities have been wasted.
Patriotism will not form in this society if the nationalist engine room is occupied by the KMT and the DPP. This is because, in the case of the DPP, Chairman Yu Shyi-kun and other leaders are incapable of revitalizing the party's nationalist goals. Witness Yu moaning yesterday that presidential son-in-law Chao Chien-ming's (
KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
The campaign for a Taiwanese nation has been hurt by so much DPP stupidity and KMT treachery that it comes as no surprise that few will dirty themselves by aligning with either side on behalf of a nation that cannot bring itself into formal existence -- but which still makes a lot of money.
Nonetheless, pan-blue ideologues are setting themselves up for a nasty fall if they think this nationalist torpor can be harnessed in the service of "Greater China." This is as clear as day: Taiwan's wealth and lifestyle are the primary components of its expression of identity, rather than comparisons with other nations, and any injury committed against wealth-generating mechanisms will attract the strongest electoral retaliation among those whose vote is not iron-blue or iron-green.
President-in-waiting Ma may harbor delusions of a China that does not fleece Taiwan's wealth and demean her people, but the day will come for him, as it has for President Chen Shui-bian (
China badly misread Japan. It sought to intimidate Tokyo into silence on Taiwan. Instead, it has achieved the opposite by hardening Japanese resolve. By trying to bludgeon a major power like Japan into accepting its “red lines” — above all on Taiwan — China laid bare the raw coercive logic of compellence now driving its foreign policy toward Asian states. From the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China Seas to the Himalayan frontier, Beijing has increasingly relied on economic warfare, diplomatic intimidation and military pressure to bend neighbors to its will. Confident in its growing power, China appeared to believe
Taiwan-India relations appear to have been put on the back burner this year, including on Taiwan’s side. Geopolitical pressures have compelled both countries to recalibrate their priorities, even as their core security challenges remain unchanged. However, what is striking is the visible decline in the attention India once received from Taiwan. The absence of the annual Diwali celebrations for the Indian community and the lack of a commemoration marking the 30-year anniversary of the representative offices, the India Taipei Association and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center, speak volumes and raise serious questions about whether Taiwan still has a coherent India
Recent media reports have again warned that traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies are disappearing and might vanish altogether within the next 15 years. Yet viewed through the broader lens of social and economic change, the rise and fall — or transformation — of industries is rarely the result of a single factor, nor is it inherently negative. Taiwan itself offers a clear parallel. Once renowned globally for manufacturing, it is now best known for its high-tech industries. Along the way, some businesses successfully transformed, while others disappeared. These shifts, painful as they might be for those directly affected, have not necessarily harmed society
Legislators of the opposition parties, consisting of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), on Friday moved to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德). They accused Lai of undermining the nation’s constitutional order and democracy. For anyone who has been paying attention to the actions of the KMT and the TPP in the legislature since they gained a combined majority in February last year, pushing through constitutionally dubious legislation, defunding the Control Yuan and ensuring that the Constitutional Court is unable to operate properly, such an accusation borders the absurd. That they are basing this
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