In 2000, Taiwan became a truly democratic nation when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential election.
After eight years of DPP administration, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) retook control of both the executive and legislative branches of government.
Thus far, the power transfer has been peaceful, and the nation appears to have passed the “two turnover test,” advocated in political science as the milestone for democratic consolidation.
Despite the KMT’s resounding defeat in the nine-in-one elections last month, whether the nation is set for true democratization remains uncertain. It must be forewarned that when a ruling party in a dictatorship loses power for whatever reason, it might attempt to cling to power by exercising all means possible once it retains it.
The KMT is unlikely to kick its bad habits and appears to continue to buy votes to win elections in both local and central governments.
When the DPP was in power, it could have followed the example of South Africa’s “truth and reconciliation” campaign to clean up the secret police and underground network inside KMT hierarchy.
Failing to do so meant failing to alleviate the KMT’s illicit activities, especially during elections.
Worse, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) hired 100 new Criminal Investigation Bureau agents as soon as he was sworn into office in 2008.
The computer sabotage of DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) campaign office during the 2012 presidential election, wiretapping in last month’s elections and an unusually high rate of traffic accidents involving student leaders associated with the Sunflower movement raised suspicions that the KMT still embraces its dark side.
The law of physics states that internal force does not work on itself. If the KMT is to evolve into a democratic party, it needs external pressure, such as the election defeat.
Now is the perfect chance for the KMT to emerge as a more open and honest political party, by recognizing that the majority of Taiwanese have voted for a government that listens to its people. The food safety scandals under the KMT administration illustrate the union between big businesses and elected officials, highlighting the levels of corruption that still exist.
Only when the KMT becomes a democratic party can the nation truly achieve democratic consolidation and become a liberal democracy that stands for freedom, equality and justice; rule of law; accountability of elected officials; and responsiveness to the mass citizenry.
James Hsu is professor emeritus in National Cheng Kung University’s physics department.
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
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017
RSS