It has only been a few days since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) promised it would be humble and respect its opponents in the legislature, yet there we were on Thursday with the party's presidential candidate, Ma Ying-jeou (
KMT supporters claim that the campaign team for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Yu Tien (
Ma told the KMT candidate, Chu Chun-hsiao (
Another curious thing is how Ma thinks that targeting Yu, a popular ethnic Taiwanese singer and actor, would help his image and achieve "reconciliation" with the party's foes. Given that Yu's electorate was one of only two that the DPP won in northern Taiwan, Ma's hardline approach can hardly impress neutral voters looking for a little less gratuitous conflict in politics.
But the strangest thing about this saga is that it comes just after Ma released his wishy-washy "three noes" policy on cross-strait affairs.
The Ma that warned of revenge in Sanchong might have been expected to promise "No compromises, no indignities and no nonsense" in dealing with Beijing. Instead, he promised no move toward unification, no move toward independence and no war.
This is, quite literally, a policy of inaction, and up to eight years of it. The "status quo" so beloved by the US State Department has become Ma's campaign hook, even if it makes no sense whatsoever in strategic terms.
"No war" is an odd thing to sign up to. Clearly, it is not in Taiwan's interests to launch an unprovoked attack on China. It is far more likely that China would be the one to start a war. Therefore Ma must want voters to believe that he, and only he, can stop a war if the Chinese start fueling their missiles.
Ma needs to explain what he would do if China continues lining its coast with weaponry. In other words, he needs to reassure voters that he is prepared to make difficult decisions if the balance of power in Beijing one day tilts to its most militant officials.
The idea that China would be willing to wait four or even eight years before any substantial move is made toward unification is inconsistent with both its rhetoric and its "Anti-Secession" Law, especially with the chance that a reanimated DPP might claim the presidency after that time.
The whole scenario is, quite simply, ridiculous. If the DPP is smart, it will go after these pie-in-the-sky promises, which seem to take no account of the efforts the military makes to protect this country.
A source in the Taiwanese military recently told Defense News of fears that KMT control of the executive would hamper the military's attempts to acquire appropriate weapons and that kickback culture would be reinvigorated as politicians look to make hay out of expensive but ineffective procurements.
Ma might be better off spending his campaign trying to convince voters that he is able to defend the professionalism of the military from such parasites -- not play silly media games sprouting macho language that borders on contempt of court.
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
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
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
RSS