The end of April approaches and the newly elected Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Po-hsiung (
This has always been the characteristic anomaly of the KMT -- a party that claims to be interested in Taiwan but consistently snubs localization. One has the feeling that the KMT's preferential attitude and mindset remains that "If it is good for the PRC, then it is good for Taiwan."
Wu of course only recently got the job as chairman because former chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Yes, pseudo Mr. Clean Ma is now on trial. We all remember him because in true double standard fashion, with faulty logic thrown in to boot, Ma was the one who insisted that President Chen Shui-bian (
And now that Ma has been indicted, he decides to make a run for the presidency.
However, let us return to Wu, who is following the lead of other pan-blue camp leaders like former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) to cross the Taiwan Strait to find out what is good for Taiwan.
There is a tremendous irony involved here. Does anyone remember Sun Yat-sen (
He is that distinguished person whose picture adorns most government offices here and who is also allegedly revered in China.
Sun is most known for preaching the Three Principles of the People -- democracy, nationalism and livelihood. Remember those?
It is almost 100 years since Sun began touting those principles, so it is all the more ironic that those who profess to honor Sun are the very ones who have resisted putting those principles into practice. Democracy came to Taiwan not because of the KMT, but in spite of it. Democracy has still not come to the PRC.
The last prediction was that it might come after another 100 years. A more blunt way of saying it is: "Sun's principles of democracy are fine and should be adopted, but not while we are in power."
So Wu will head to China to find out what is good for Taiwan. Remember when Lien and Soong made their pilgrimages back to their (not Taiwan's) motherland? Sun's words about democracy, nationalism and livelihood were strictly taboo, verboten, mention-at-risk-of-getting-kicked-out.
If I were a betting man, I would lay heavy odds that while Wu may bow to some pictures of Sun, he won't dare to mention Sun's principles of democracy.
And Sun? He must be twisting and turning in his grave.
Jerome Keating is a Taiwan-based writer.
World leaders are preparing themselves for a second Donald Trump presidency. Some leaders know more or less where he stands: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy knows that a difficult negotiation process is about to be forced on his country, and the leaders of NATO countries would be well aware of being complacent about US military support with Trump in power. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely be feeling relief as the constraints placed on him by the US President Joe Biden administration would finally be released. However, for President William Lai (賴清德) the calculation is not simple. Trump has surrounded himself
US president-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named US Representative Mike Waltz, a vocal supporter of arms sales to Taiwan who has called China an “existential threat,” as his national security advisor, and on Thursday named US Senator Marco Rubio, founding member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China — a global, cross-party alliance to address the challenges that China poses to the rules-based order — as his secretary of state. Trump’s appointments, including US Representative Elise Stefanik as US ambassador to the UN, who has been a strong supporter of Taiwan in the US Congress, and Robert Lighthizer as US trade
Following the BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia, last month, media outlets circulated familiar narratives about Russia and China’s plans to dethrone the US dollar and build a BRICS-led global order. Each summit brings renewed buzz about a BRICS cross-border payment system designed to replace the SWIFT payment system, allowing members to trade without using US dollars. Articles often highlight the appeal of this concept to BRICS members — bypassing sanctions, reducing US dollar dependence and escaping US influence. They say that, if widely adopted, the US dollar could lose its global currency status. However, none of these articles provide
A nation has several pillars of national defense, among them are military strength, energy and food security, and national unity. Military strength is very much on the forefront of the debate, while several recent editorials have dealt with energy security. National unity and a sense of shared purpose — especially while a powerful, hostile state is becoming increasingly menacing — are problematic, and would continue to be until the nation’s schizophrenia is properly managed. The controversy over the past few days over former navy lieutenant commander Lu Li-shih’s (呂禮詩) usage of the term “our China” during an interview about his attendance
RSS