The next few weeks could prove to be a make or break period for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
With former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh's (
An even sterner test of his leadership lies just around the corner when the new legislative session begins on Sept. 19 -- passage of the long delayed special arms procurement bill.
According to a recent interview with an anonymous US official, Washington has begun to have doubts about Taiwan's determination to defend itself in the event of a cross-strait war and the White House believes Taipei isn't serious about buying defensive weapons. These doubts are a result of the legislature's unwillingness to pass the arms bill.
The US official went on to say that the next two months would be crucial for the future of Taiwan's relationship with the US, saying that it could move forward, stagnate or take a step backward. If the arms bill is not passed within the first two months of the new legislative session, the official said, then the US doesn't believe it will pass at all during President Chen Shui-bian's (
The frustration caused by more than two years of delays has already forced Washington to make changes in the way it deals with arms sales to Taiwan. In future, the Pentagon will only announce sales when the budget has been passed by the Legislative Yuan. The first example of this new modus operandi is likely to be the purchase of 66 F-16 fighters, but even this proposal has already been rejected by sections of the KMT.
Only a dramatic shift in posture by the KMT legislative caucus will secure the passage of the bill, and Ma, as party chairman, is the one charged with prompting this shift.
Having visited the US in March and having met with top officials, Ma is aware of how much importance Washington places on swift passage of the bill.
Indeed, concerns about US relations and his aim of winning the presidency in 2008 are probably the rationales behind the "reasonable arms purchase" doctrine that Ma has preached over the last year.
To satisfy Taiwan's main ally and enhance his appeal to moderate voters that value close US ties, reject unification with China and would like Taiwan to maintain a defense capability, Ma needs to ensure the passage of the bill.
But maintaining the integrity of his leadership involves striking a delicate balance between deep and light-blue elements within his party and not upsetting the pro-China forces that are fiercely opposed to any arms deal and are working to undermine Ma's chairmanship.
Rumors of a watered-down arms deal passing the legislature are already circulating in the press.
If Ma manages to get an arms bill passed that is acceptable to the US, his pan-blue colleagues and the majority of Taiwanese then he will have navigated an extremely hazardous minefield.
But any failure to get a bill passed could jeopardize any US support for his candidacy, do lasting harm to his carefully cultivated domestic image and further embolden those within the pan-blue ranks who want someone else as their leader.
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
RSS