Way back in December 1999, prior to the election of the first Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) government, then Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (沈富雄) wrote a piece in the Taipei Times arguing that direct cross-strait flights were viable and necessary. Companies from Taiwan and China could form a consortium to work a way around the diplomatic impasse, he argued.
It was strong stuff for a DPP legislator at the time, if only because it was pragmatic and realistic.
Shen was also prepared to do something that most DPP hacks would not dare: criticize former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) for her frequently absurd and embarrassing remarks, regardless of the subject.
For this willingness to speak on matters with clarity and intelligence, even when it conflicted with the ideological preferences of his party, Shen attracted a degree of support from voters who were sick and tired of partisan wrangling. His approach after that time was to forge a middle ground and from that space find new solutions.
But in early 2004, Shen began to snipe at his own party, the administration and the first family after a brief but strange disappearance, in the process alienating his colleagues and amusing his opponents — and thus securing the tag of “lone bird.”
Then his political star fell in the most humiliating manner when he failed to gain re-election to the legislature that year. For a man who apparently enjoyed so much support from a pragmatic electorate, the result showed he had lost touch with a functional political base.
It was a terrible blow: He didn’t just lose his seat — he lost his ability to speak for anyone other than himself.
Since then, Shen has been prone to erratic or self-absorbed behavior — but always self-promoting. He has spent endless hours on pro-blue-camp talkshows in an attempt to forge his beloved middle ground, trying to make sense out of cable TV drivel and in the process dignifying some of the nation’s most discredited politicians.
Shen is now back in the limelight with a failed nomination for the vice presidency of the Control Yuan. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) apparently saw in him a middle ground figure who could speak to both sides of the political spectrum, and who possibly made the symbolism of the nomination of hardline Mainlander Wang Chien-shien (王建火宣) to the Control Yuan presidency more palatable.
Shen’s latest rejection — this time at the hands of the legislature — is a sign of how Ma’s would-be agenda of inclusiveness is being disregarded by a legislature under his party’s —not his — control.
For Shen, however, the appropriate feeling is one of pity rather than indignation.
Despite his pragmatism, his sincere attempts to open a dialogue with the KMT, his appeal for inter-party consensus and, crucially, support from the president, he has failed to comprehend the politics of the day. The KMT has laughed in his face and voted him into oblivion.
Shen has been humiliated all over again — by people he had always thought could be his friends.
It is therefore time for him to do what so many promise when things go wrong in politics, yet so few achieve: retire from this seedy profession and, while there is still time, forge a new career in his twilight years that bears some semblance of dignity.
There are moments in history when America has turned its back on its principles and withdrawn from past commitments in service of higher goals. For example, US-Soviet Cold War competition compelled America to make a range of deals with unsavory and undemocratic figures across Latin America and Africa in service of geostrategic aims. The United States overlooked mass atrocities against the Bengali population in modern-day Bangladesh in the early 1970s in service of its tilt toward Pakistan, a relationship the Nixon administration deemed critical to its larger aims in developing relations with China. Then, of course, America switched diplomatic recognition
The international women’s soccer match between Taiwan and New Zealand at the Kaohsiung Nanzih Football Stadium, scheduled for Tuesday last week, was canceled at the last minute amid safety concerns over poor field conditions raised by the visiting team. The Football Ferns, as New Zealand’s women’s soccer team are known, had arrived in Taiwan one week earlier to prepare and soon raised their concerns. Efforts were made to improve the field, but the replacement patches of grass could not grow fast enough. The Football Ferns canceled the closed-door training match and then days later, the main event against Team Taiwan. The safety
The National Immigration Agency on Tuesday said it had notified some naturalized citizens from China that they still had to renounce their People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizenship. They must provide proof that they have canceled their household registration in China within three months of the receipt of the notice. If they do not, the agency said it would cancel their household registration in Taiwan. Chinese are required to give up their PRC citizenship and household registration to become Republic of China (ROC) nationals, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. He was referring to Article 9-1 of the Act
The Chinese government on March 29 sent shock waves through the Tibetan Buddhist community by announcing the untimely death of one of its most revered spiritual figures, Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche. His sudden passing in Vietnam raised widespread suspicion and concern among his followers, who demanded an investigation. International human rights organization Human Rights Watch joined their call and urged a thorough investigation into his death, highlighting the potential involvement of the Chinese government. At just 56 years old, Rinpoche was influential not only as a spiritual leader, but also for his steadfast efforts to preserve and promote Tibetan identity and cultural
RSS