As Russia’s aggression in Ukraine’s Crimea republic grips the world’s attention, many in Taiwan are astounded by similarities this nation seems to share with Russia’s small, democratic neighbor, and are appalled at the extent of peril there may be for Taiwan amid the possibility of following in the Eastern European country’s footsteps.
Prior to Russia’s incursion into the Crimean Peninsula on Saturday, Moscow had long asserted influence over Ukraine — a country divided between pro-Russia and pro-Europe groups — in various ways. Economically, Russia controls energy supplies to keep a hold over Ukraine, which imports as much as 60 percent of its natural gas from its larger neighbor. Politically, Moscow uses Ukraine’s energy dependence to sway Ukrainian politicians and influence Ukrainian politics. Moscow also works to undermine Ukrainian independence by maneuvering those on Ukrainian territory who support Russia’s continued influence.
It is worth noting how Russia justified sending troops to the peninsula, home to a large ethnic Russian population.
“[Russian President] Vladimir Putin emphasized that, in case of the further spread of violence in the eastern regions of Ukraine and Crimea, Russia maintains the right to protect its interests and the Russian-speaking people who live there,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
These incidents and claims bear a startling resemblance to what Taiwan faces. Echoing the tug-of-war of opposing allegiances in Ukraine, Taiwan is divided between those who advocate Taiwanese independence and others who support unification with China.
Also, China, which makes no secret of its ambition to annex Taiwan, has long worked to sabotage Taiwan’s sovereignty with its “united front” tactics. The cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement has pushed Taiwan’s economic dependence on China to historic highs, not to mention the sociopolitical costs that came along with the agreement, which helped China’s strategy of inserting itself “into the island, into households and into the brains” (入島，入戶，入腦) of Taiwanese.
As the world saw pro-Russia forces in Crimea taking control of Ukrainian military facilities while Russian troops moved into the Crimean Peninsula, one dreads imagining what would happen in Taiwan if it were put into a similar situation. In view of the increased numbers of former military officials flocking to China after retirement, Taiwanese troops to an extent have grown confused about whether the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is a friend or enemy.
Retired Air Force general Hsia Ying-chou (夏瀛洲) was certainly not helping with remarks claiming that: “Both the Republic of China army and the PLA are ‘China’s army.’”
The Kremlin’s statement justifying its military intervention surely rings an eerie tone echoing that of China’s “Anti-Secession” Law, which empowers Beijing to employ “non-peaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” in the event that Taiwan descends into “chaos,” among other preconditions.
Despite its independence and international recognition, Ukraine still displays such helplessness against Russia’s blatant aggression and brazen disregard of its sovereignty. One can only imagine how the predicament facing Taiwan could be even more treacherous, as this nation lacks UN membership and still struggles for international recognition.
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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