With only five weeks left before the presidential election, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominee Frank Hsieh (
DPP supporters must be beginning to wonder whether this slow drip attack strategy is leading anywhere, because short of a bombshell announcement that Ma is concealing US citizenship -- which would invalidate his nomination and throw the electoral process into disrepute -- Hsieh has nowhere else to go.
Ma has any number of weak spots that could energize a demoralized pan-green camp: allegations that he spied on Taiwanese students while studying in the US; his weakness within the KMT and probable inability to defend the office of president against a predatory KMT-dominated legislature and his rival, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
But Hsieh's campaign team, packed with failed legislative candidates, has picked the lamest of options. And behind this option -- this strategy of "green card stigma" -- is the insinuation that wanting to study, work or live in the US is an unpatriotic act.
This is an idiotic message, as if it weren't obvious, and matters are made worse for the DPP in that this clumsy nationalism obscures the remarkable anti-Americanism in the hearts of KMT ideologues.
It is absurd that Ma's credibility should be at issue over the possession of a green card, given that there is nothing remotely sinister about acquiring one. Ma's weakness has instead been his response to the "allegations" -- which by turns has been prevaricating and uninformative.
But this isn't enough to stop Ma from winning the election.
Hsieh made much the same strategic mistake during his token run for the post of Taipei City mayor. Seemingly resigned to defeat against the lazy, policy-free campaign of the KMT's Hau Lung-bin (
The fact that Hsieh increased the DPP vote in that election is notable: Either he has tremendous personal appeal that can overcome flaccid campaigning, or the DPP machine did its job properly in Taipei City (a rare thing), or both. But this good fortune, and his lawyer's games, are not enough this time.
If Hsieh does not change his campaign mode soon, DPP supporters may well wonder why vice presidential candidate Su Tseng-chang (
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
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS