President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his administration are incapable of governing the nation. Bringing about such a situation is in line with Ma’s pursuit of a dubious historical legacy: Destroying government functionality the way he does would indeed be an unprecedented political achievement.
That former deputy minister of culture Vicki Chiu (邱于芸) was fired for sending a post office evidentiary letter to Minister of Culture Hung Meng-chi (洪孟啟) shows how dysfunctional the government has become. Prior to that, Hung had submitted his resignation — albeit rejected — after suspicions that the ministry might have used the national coffers to “subsidize” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators. Chiu set a precedent in Taiwan by sending the evidentiary letter to Hung to profess her innocence in connection with an internal investigation into information leaks and influence peddling.
Chiu said that she sent the letter to protect herself, but surely a deputy minister should be able to speak directly to her minister, so why the need to send an evidentiary letter? Relations between the two had clearly deteriorated to the point where they avoided direct communications. If a deputy no longer has her superior’s trust, she should make preparations to leave, as subordinates protesting their superiors runs counter both to administrative ethics and workplace discipline. If she sends an evidentiary letter, which is the last step before resorting to legal action, she might just as well resign immediately.
After Hung’s resignation was rejected, Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) became aware of the conflict in the ministry. He had no choice but to make it known during a question-and-answer session at the legislature that this was inappropriate. Still, he did nothing, as if he had forgotten that Chiu and Hung were political appointees and that things would only deteriorate if he did not interfere.
It is not only the Cabinet that is in chaos: Minister of Justice Luo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) has issued two press releases calling on the Control Yuan not to give in to populism, in protest at the body’s decision to issue a correction order against the Ministry of Justice after former Tainan County council speaker Wu Chien-pao (吳健保) and former Ruifang Township (瑞芳) mayor Liao Hsiu-hsiung (廖秀雄) skipped bail and escaped after being found guilty by the courts in two separate corruption cases.
When Control Yuan member Wang Mei-yu (王美玉), who was in charge of the investigation that resulted in the reprimand, asked seven questions to Luo, the Ministry of Justice responded by issuing another press release, saying that Control Yuan members “should maintain objectivity and a cool head when criticizing state affairs.” It also said that if the body pursued populism, it would forfeit its neutrality and shake the belief of civil servants, which, in turn, would scare off talented people.
That the justice minister issued two press releases to protest a decision by the Control Yuan shows that she lacks an understanding of constitutional politics and that her political wisdom is wanting. The Constitution requires the Control Yuan to supervise the government, and investigations and corrections are not matters of “criticizing state affairs” — it is about supervising the government and setting officials straight.
It is a matter of checks and balances, and when the justice minister protests against the Control Yuan by issuing press releases, she is only highlighting the chaos within the Ma administration.
The farce that ended with the replacement of the KMT’s former presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) and the chaos among the five state branches show the extent of demoralization in the government.
Small wonder, then, that the public is so eager to replace it.
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