Before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) reported to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the KMT would not announce its candidate for next year’s Republic of China (ROC) presidential election. Was this why Chu had to meet with Xi?
Chu, who serves concurrently as the mayor of New Taipei City, visited China in his capacity as KMT chairman. The party’s politicians often like to mention the so-called “1992 consensus,” but a KMT chairman serving concurrently as president would not be able to visit China. As for the party’s stance that there is “one China, with each side making its own interpretation,” Taiwanese can only ask what that interpretation really means. The KMT itself does not seem to know.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is exactly what it is. What about the ROC? Exactly what is it? When Chu met with Xi, the KMT chairman did not dare go any further than mentioning that Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) launched a revolution against the Qing Dynasty and established the ROC. Did he dare mention the ROC to Xi’s face after it went into exile in Taiwan in 1949 following a second revolution? Of course not. KMT politicians only dare to talk about the ROC at home. They are a bunch of disgraceful political clowns constantly embarrassing themselves.
If Xi hopes that Chu will run for president, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might try to create favorable conditions for him. They might even sacrifice President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). It could order a Taiwanese businessperson — perhaps a heavyweight capitalist — to provide evidence of wrongdoing to destroy Ma’s clean image. Perhaps that would help draw a line between the KMT and Ma, and create a new image for the party to allow it to continue to deceive Taiwanese.
Taiwanese can only wonder whether the CCP sees the KMT as its tamed political representative in Taiwan. The KMT government fled to Taiwan, where it has behaved whichever way it wanted under the ROC banner. The party has transformed itself from being anticommunist to moving closer to the CCP, working together with it and attaching itself to it and it will eventually surrender to it. On the surface, the KMT praises the two Chiangs — Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) — at every turn, but it discarded them somewhere in a dark corner long ago. As the era of Ma edges closer to collapse, the party is now under the leadership of Chu, a mere local government head.
Look at the people who visit China for political or business reasons: They will say anything that serves their interests. It seems that the KMT has lost its party spirit, and feels more comfortable in China than in Taiwan.
If the PRC is so unhappy that the ROC remains in exile in Taiwan, it is welcome to take the ROC back and perhaps establish a historical and cultural park to shelter it, and let Taiwan be Taiwan instead of the ROC. That would be the perfect solution. Why should China bother manipulating Taiwan’s presidential election?
Taiwanese have awakened and do not favor the KMT. Flying the ROC banner, this vicious political force is trying hard to become the CCP’s representative. The “1992 consensus” does not really exist, and it really only means “one China” without any room for any interpretations of what that “one China” might be. Taiwanese have long since understood that the KMT continues to follow closely in the CCP’s footsteps, not daring to deviate from the path.
As for those with loftier aspirations, they should show the KMT and the CCP how it is done in next year’s presidential election.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
RSS