Taiwan’s Dreyfus Affair
Those familiar with French history might know that last century “l’Affaire Dreyfus” split French public opinion down the middle, just as the “l’Affaire Chen Shui-bian [陳水扁]” threa tens to do in Taiwan nowadays.
First of all, whether I regard Chen as guilty or innocent of the charges brought against him is irrelevant right now. It is the procedure followed against Chen that matters.
The procedure that has been used might be normal in countries like China or North Korea, but should have no place in a democratic country like Taiwan claims to be.
I am no legal expert, but I do know that in countries like Ireland, Britain and most other European countries, any action aimed at influencing an upcoming trial is a criminal offense known as “Contempt of Court.”
And if a prosecutor like Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) were to engage in such an offense, aside from being immediately kicked out of the judiciary, he would have certainly been charged, along with Justice Minister Wang Ching-feng (王清峰), Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) and many other Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials for their gross acts of interference in the ongoing proceedings against Chen.
Going back to Captain Dreyfus, thankfully he was eventually found innocent and rightly so. But regarding Chen, despite the numerous “J’accuse [I accuse]” and “Nous accusons [we accuse]” launched by human rights campaigners and legal experts from the world over, I would not hold my breath.
For a start, France at that time was already a country somehow committed to democratic values, while the ruling KMT does not have the foggiest idea what such values are.
The KMT believes that it is not accountable to anyone (except the Chinese Communist Party) and that it can get away with everything.
By now it should be crystal clear that KMT is the cancerous growth that must be eradicated from Taiwanese public life, but how do you achieve this?
I have seen messages on pro-Taiwan discussion boards calling for things like revolution, civil war, and so on, but as an Irishman (whose country has gone through all this before), I don’t agree.
I do believe that the Taiwanese can start their rebellion against the KMT dictatorship with a peaceful Gandhi-style campaign. The campaign would include extremely noisy protests and demonstrations, strikes (especially in companies owned by the KMT or pro-KMT business-folks), boycotts (like postal workers refusing to handle mail directed to the government or KMT offices, dock workers refusing to handle ships coming from or bound for China), blockades, occupations, refusals to pay taxes or fines and many more acts of civil disobedience. The list is endless.
I know that in Taiwan there is not the same militant and rebellious mentality as, say, in Greece, but for the sake of Taiwan’s future, all Taiwanese who care one iota about their country’s future had better learn from the Wild Strawberries, and fairly quickly.
ALAN MULCANY
Swords, County Dublin, Ireland
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
About 6.1 million couples tied the knot last year, down from 7.28 million in 2023 — a drop of more than 20 percent, data from the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs showed. That is more serious than the precipitous drop of 12.2 percent in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the saying goes, a single leaf reveals an entire autumn. The decline in marriages reveals problems in China’s economic development, painting a dismal picture of the nation’s future. A giant question mark hangs over economic data that Beijing releases due to a lack of clarity, freedom of the press
RSS