THIS IS NOT rumor mongering but an imminent and present threat already looming over Taiwan. Using democratic common sense and personal observation, we can see that an urgent crisis is upon us.
The pan-blue camp won three quarters of the legislative seats. If Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wins the presidency, all five branches of government will be under KMT control and Taiwan will return to single party rule. This is tantamount to declaring that the efforts expended by Taiwanese for democracy in the last 50 years were in vain.
At the same time, the KMT's party assets would be rapidly legalized and continue to generate profit. In the next 30 years, no party will be able to compete against the KMT and democratic balance will be entirely lost.
Besides, left to Ma's cross-strait common market economic policy, Taiwan will rapidly transition from economic amalgamation to political annexation. Taiwan's national sovereignty will quickly be lost in misguided economic notions.
Ma's new "three noes" is merely campaign-speak, which cannot disguise his central ideology of eventual annexation and the concrete goal of unifying China, to be achieved through cooperation between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
If Ma is elected president, in the short term China would take him on a "honeymoon." However, the initiative for pulling the strings does not reside with Ma, but with China. Taiwan will eventually be imprisoned by the view that it is part of China, from which it will not be able to escape. Taiwanese sovereignty will be in a precarious position.
Furthermore, in the last seven years, the level of identification with Taiwan among the public has risen from 36 percent to more than 60 percent. If the KMT returns to power, all pro-localization education will return to focusing on China. In other words, the issue of identifying with Taiwan or China, which has plagued Taiwan for several years, will be inherited by the next generation. Our generation's pain will be passed to the next and the normalization of the country will be even further away.
Confronted with this imminent threat, we must come to realize that KMT legislators won 5 million votes, hence we must invest more than 7 million votes in a display of direct public will in Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) to give him greater public backing. Only then will it be possible to keep a check on the monstrous force of the legislature.
If Hsieh is elected, the 7 million votes should be given greater importance, so that he will not be at a disadvantage.
While policy can be discussed and compromises reached in accordance with democratic principles, political power cannot be conceded lest democratic election and votes be rendered meaningless. If necessary, we could consider the president's right to issue orders in an emergency as well as veto power. If the legislature passes legislation that damages the welfare of the majority or national interest, such as passing money-guzzling legislation benefiting minority groups, the president could use his right to issue emergency orders to veto the legislation.
The establishment of such a convention would make up for the shortcomings of the constitutional framework, or force the legislature to amend the political instability caused by the Constitution.
Friends ask me how Taiwan can be saved from this threat. I only know that our only chance is dependent on the efforts of each individual. The KMT relies on vote-buying to win elections, whereas we rely on our efforts. We can only depend on determination and force of will to stem the tide.
There is no time for pessimism. In the next two months, we must work like ants and endeavor to persuade our friends and family. We can spread our force if we each garner five votes.
In order to prevent democracy from marching backwards and to defend Taiwan's sovereignty and pro-localization consciousness, we must strive to the end. There is no retreat and we must win the ensuing battle.
Michelle Wang is the deputy secretary-general of the Northern Taiwan Society.
TRANSLATED BY ANGELA HONG
Two weeks ago, Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) raised hackles in Taiwan by posting to her 2.6 million Instagram followers that she was visiting “Taipei, China.” Yeoh’s post continues a long-standing trend of Chinese propaganda that spreads disinformation about Taiwan’s political status and geography, aimed at deceiving the world into supporting its illegitimate claims to Taiwan, which is not and has never been part of China. Taiwan must respond to this blatant act of cognitive warfare. Failure to respond merely cedes ground to China to continue its efforts to conquer Taiwan in the global consciousness to justify an invasion. Taiwan’s government
This month’s news that Taiwan ranks as Asia’s happiest place according to this year’s World Happiness Report deserves both celebration and reflection. Moving up from 31st to 27th globally and surpassing Singapore as Asia’s happiness leader is gratifying, but the true significance lies deeper than these statistics. As a society at the crossroads of Eastern tradition and Western influence, Taiwan embodies a distinctive approach to happiness worth examining more closely. The report highlights Taiwan’s exceptional habit of sharing meals — 10.1 shared meals out of 14 weekly opportunities, ranking eighth globally. This practice is not merely about food, but represents something more
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
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
RSS