So the campaign initiated by former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh (
Thankfully the day, with the exception of a couple of small incidents, was peaceful.
But apart from proving that a few weeks' notice, excessive media coverage and a national holiday is all anyone needs to mobilize more than 100,000 people, what else did yesterday's actions achieve?
The main purpose was to keep the anti-Chen Shui-bian (
The nationwide "tour" kept the campaign in the headlines until yesterday, presenting the red-clad protesters with the perfect opportunity to make a scene, as the president would be making a high-profile, public appearance.
That so many people would take part in the protest was never in doubt, because as well as being a national holiday, northern Taiwan remains a bastion of pan-blue support and it is that support -- both in numbers of people and cash -- that has kept the protest going much longer than it deserves.
However, Double Ten National Day -- which marks the Wuchang Uprising in 1911 and serves as a symbolic proxy for the creation of the Republic of China -- is a day that celebrates the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and all that it stands for. The decision by pan-blue lawmakers and their supporters, who make up the bulk of Shih's red army, to disrespect their precious day would have had China's leaders rubbing their hands in glee, assuming they have any understanding of what is going on.
By making a mockery of the National Day celebrations, the Shih campaign is playing directly into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party and its plans to eradicate Taiwan in the international arena -- many foreign VIPs and guests canceled their attendance at the celebrations in fear of what might happen. Yesterday's skylarking will further motivate the pan-blue camp to block reform and sow discord within the legislature while blaming the president, when in fact the legislature's problems have little to do with him and much more to do with contempt for the political system as a whole.
It was predictable that certain pan-blue lawmakers would disrupt the president's speech, because in this nation's political theater, anyone who plays up is guaranteed attention thanks to the vacuous media.
But their actions also did a disservice to the chronically ambiguous Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Maybe they believed, as pro-China media outlets have suggested, that the world would see how unhappy they are with their president. Indeed, the protest leaders said that one of the aims of yesterday's "siege" was to spread the message around the globe. But a glance at CNN would tell them that the world doesn't care one little bit about the current bout of Chen-hatred. There are much more important things going on.
And yesterday did not bring the protesters any closer to their goal of forcing the president to step down, because as much as they shout "depose" and make the thumbs-down gesture, there is still one inconvenient fact that remains: They have yet to show that Chen has done anything wrong.
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