At the expense of ruffling feathers in Washington, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is pushing ahead with a national referendum on joining the UN under the name "Taiwan."
Considering the somewhat frayed relationship between President Chen Shui-bian's (
However, the debate has highlighted an area of indecision within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which in recent months has been experiencing an identity crisis as it tries to repackage itself as a "localized" party.
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
This criticism is not surprising. However, the KMT has also grown increasingly mute in criticizing the DPP for using "Taiwan" instead of the "Republic of China."
Instead, Ma and certain KMT officials have been throwing around another theory: The national title isn't important when applying to international organizations as long as it gets Taiwan's foot in the door. Despite accusing DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
KMT spokesperson Su Jun-pin (
KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yi (
Meanwhile, Ma on Wednesday seemed equally unconcerned, saying that anything that allows the nation to return to international organizations, including the UN, should be given support. He went on to say that Taiwan should be "flexible" about its title.
He cited the WTO, in which Taiwan has been allowed to participate under the title of the "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu," as well as the International Olympic Committee, in which Taiwan has the title of "Chinese Taipei," as examples of Taiwan gaining membership through flexibility.
But Taiwan's title in these organizations does matter. It is not a trivial detail that can be brushed aside. Ma's willingness to accept any degrading and misleading name is misguided. His assertion that any name must respect Taiwan's dignity is at odds with his acceptance of any ludicrous title.
Gaining entry into every B-grade organization under an array of ridiculous names does little to assert sovereignty. Taiwan is better served by not participating in an organization rather than participating under a silly name. Taiwan, after all, is not merely a "customs territory."
While applying to international agencies under the name "Taiwan" does not usually meet with success -- as demonstrated by its WHO bid this spring -- it is important for Taiwan to maintain a standard.
And it is better to be rejected by the UN when applying as "Taiwan" than to be accepted under a name not befitting a sovereign nation.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
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