Is democracy dying?
Taiwan appears to be losing its democratic brand, and believers in democratic values and human rights should look on with grave concern at recent developments. We may be witnessing a fundamental change in Taiwan as democratically elected politicians restrict democratic participation.
The latest matter for concern is the Act Governing the Administrative Impartiality of Public Officials (公務人員行政中立法), which denies research fellows at public academic institutions and public servants the basic democratic right to participate in normal political debate.
From June 10, public employees were not allowed to openly support political parties, political organizations or candidates. In addition, they are denied the right to hold meetings, initiate rallies or lead petitions.
The legislature, which is three-quarters dominated by the pan-blue camp, has passed a resolution to apply the restrictions to all faculty at public universities by next month.
If these initiatives are implemented, Taiwan’s young democracy will be in danger and the nation will lose international support.
Taiwan has been praised for its democratic achievements and the world continues to support Taiwan largely for that reason.
It would be a tragic mistake if pride in out-of-date and mistaken concepts were to undermine the importance of sharing a democratic future and in the process allow authoritarian ideas to resurface.
It is a delicate question: At what point would Taiwan cease to be a democracy? Democracy is not only about holding regular elections; it requires open and free conversations and free political debate among all citizens.
The Act Governing the Administrative Impartiality of Public Officials and the attendant legislative resolution are dangerous developments. They will not help Taiwanese and risk diminishing support for Taiwan in the community of democratic nations.
MICHAEL DANIELSEN
Chairman, Taiwan Corner,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Razzamatazz indeed
Michael Fagan claims in his letter that the World Games did not contribute to Taiwan’s international profile, saying the event was ignored in several foreign newspapers (Letters, Aug. 3, page 8).
Fagan is obviously wrong, for in Germany reporting on the Games — sometimes quite detailed — was available in many newspapers, including Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Handelsblatt, Focus, Rheinische Post, Rheinzeitung, FAZ and Tagesspiegel. Even the boycott of the Chinese delegation at the opening ceremony was reported.
This is not to say that I disagree with Fagan on the tendency of Taiwanese media to exaggerate the international attention the World Games received.
Nor do I deny that international trade is much more vital for “a civilized life on this island” than sports events.
But I don’t agree with his contention that “Taiwan’s political class and their supporters are willing to tell ... barefaced lies to the public.”
I won’t mistake a reader’s sloppy investigative skills for barefaced lies, but here, too, “razzamatazz” may be an appropriate word.
MICHAEL SPECKAMP
Koenigswinter, Germany
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
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