Former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-deh's (
Despite all the hullabaloo of a few months ago, the area outside Taipei Railway Station has been purged of the red-shirted demonstrators.
Taiwan has no lack of sunshine reformers, self-serving reformers, show-boating reformers and free-loading reformers.
These will always be here to lead the naive and seek their spot in the limelight.
What Taiwan could use more of, however, are sincere and dedicated people who are interested in true reform across the board with the goal of benefitting Taiwan.
Shih's whole campaign collapsed as it became evident that it was not supported by the voice of the people. It was fueled by those with a pronounced hatred for President Chen Shui-bian (
It turned out that the March of a Million was actually no more than 360,000 pan-blue supporters.
Then there were the donations. Shih's campaign managed to collect around NT$110 million (US$3 million) in donations.
But despite the immediacy of the donations and the pan-blue cries for accountability by Chen, Shih's campaign has purposely avoided true accountability for the sources of its own income.
Yes, here was a huge fund for the purpose of pressuring the government to depose Chen. This money was never accounted for.
It was suspected that Chen Yu-hao (
It was also suspected that China may have contributed to the campaign.
Shih's campaign was not transparent in accounting for its sources and spending. The story that it came from grass roots supporters donating NT$100 each has not been proven.
The straw that broke the camel's back, however, came with the realization that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
In addition, many legislators and officials from the pan-blue and pan-green camps themselves may not have clean hands.
Blinded by its fixation with vilifying Chen, the pan-blue media unintentionally opened a Pandora's Box that revealed a system prone to corruption and in dire need of reform.
This system is just one of many problems that remain from the country's time as a one-party state.
After Ma came into focus, the pan-blue media shut up. To say anything further would have meant analyzing the flaws in the system and calling for reform.
It would have meant dragging the KMT's skeletons out of the closet. The pan-blue media and the demonstrators were more interested in attacking Chen.
Where is Shih now? He has pulled off a disappearing act.
Shih says he is in seclusion in a little apartment with a back door near Taipei Railway Station until next year.
Is that what the campaign money was for? Shih will occasionally show his head to try to justify that the money spent on him was not wasted.
Nevertheless, an obvious question remains. Was Shih ever committed to real reform? He never campaigned against pan-blue corruption.
Although he traipsed around the nation campaigning against Chen, Shih could not bring himself to lead his troops the short distance to Keelung where the mayor had been convicted of corruption with a capital C. The mayor is still in office there and protected by the KMT.
None of Taiwan's sunshine reformers want to tackle that reality.
Where have all the supporting politicians like People First Party Chairman James Soong (
Soong joined Shih and then ran for and lost Taipei's mayorship. Soong is checking up on his property in the US. He was not dedicated to reform.
Where are all the sages of Academia Sinica and the literary figures that weighed in on the depose Chen debate? They are suddenly silent.
Have they weighed in on any of the other convicted or accused corruption cases in this country?
Not quite -- those cases are nitty-gritty reform cases that demand a lot of work with little exposure to the limelight.
There is no question that Taiwan needs reform of both political camps.
There is also no question that Taiwan's governmental system is in desperate need of reform.
With the approach of the legislative elections in December, sincere reform must be a critical factor in evaluating and selecting candidates.
In the coming year, Taiwan must assess what true reform is.
While it does that, let me make a few related predictions for this year. Only time will tell if my predictions are correct.
We will never see true accountability of the sources that donated money to Shih's protest campaign.
We will never see full accountability for the expenditure of the NT$40 million to NT$50 million remaining in that fund either. The records for expenditure of the first NT$60 million were vague.
The KMT's stolen assets that Ma promised in 2005 would be sold will not all have been sold by the end of this year.
The money from whatever assets the KMT does manage to sell off will -- like the previous sales -- never be returned to the public.
The money will be used to pay off the KMT's bills or fund Ma's presidential campaign.
The media will continue to avoid doing its job.
It will neither push for true reform across the board nor will it seek to find out answers to questions like where Shih's campain money came from and where it went.
Jerome Keating is a writer based in Taiwan.
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