One of the key characteristics of Taiwan's shallow-dished political circus and headline-driven media culture is a tendency to search for the next hot issue without seriously taking social dynamics and the public interest into account.
As the governing party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is standing at a critical juncture in terms of selecting its next presidential candidate. The wrap up of registration for the primary last week has officially opened up the post-Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) era.
This era is significant, but not just because of Chen's attempt to set the tone early this month for all contenders by emphasizing the "four wants and one no" -- namely Taiwan wants independence, name rectification, a new constitution and new development, but no political split.
What makes the primary so important is that the DPP presidential candidate must introduce a new vision for all Taiwanese.
Regretfully, as the primary race begins, the four competitors -- Vice President Annette Lu (
To take advantage of internal power struggles in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Chen has proposed using a public poll to decide the DPP's best joint presidential ticket. The idea was tentatively accepted by Su and Hsieh -- who have outperformed Lu and Yu in terms of popularity.
However, Lu and Yu seem to favor the current rules of the game, that is, a combination of a direct vote among registered party members and a public poll.
Prior coordination by Chen might effectively minimize an internal spit, but it might also create a negative image of "back-door politics." Only through public debates will voters be able to understand each candidate's vision for leading the country.
Unlike the old KMT's or even the Chinese Communist Party's long tradition of "designated successors," it is impossible for Chen to endorse a successor. In this regard, the assumption that Chen can serve as a mediator among the four competitors within the DPP lacks both theoretical and democratic value.
The DPP is well-known for its pluralist, free and democratic approach to internal competition and decisionmaking. One of the party's most valuable assets lies in its democratic and open rules of competition. Any contender must win the primary to earn the candidacy, and the loser must accept the results of the primary.
Instead of worrying about former KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou's (
Taiwanese voters are now better informed and more independent of politics. The nation's next leader will have to judge when to run up the flag and charge, or to mediate differences and seek to shift consensus by stages in the face of both internal and external challenges.
Whoever represents the DPP in the presidential election next year, he or she will have to win public support not only by incorporating negotiation and persuasion into political maneuvering, but also by being more pragmatic in fulfilling the nation's urgent need to put aside partisan dispute and uphold public interests.
Only by directly facing the nation can all four DPP competitors win support from the rank-and-file by clearly telling voters why they can do better than Chen when it comes to the questions of safeguarding Taiwan's sovereignty, forging a balanced cross-strait policy, strengthening the nation's self-defense, promoting sustainable economic prosperity and bringing about social justice and clean politics.
Liu Kuan-teh is a Taipei-based political commentator.
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to