It is difficult to know if President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson, was pleased following the DPP National Congress last Sunday.
She might have been unhappy because news about the congress was drowned out by the clashes at National Taiwan University, but pleased because discussion about pardoning former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has died down, which is probably a big burden off her shoulders.
As party chair, she hosted the congress, but the push to pardon Chen soon turned it into a discussion about that.
The question was how to deal with the situation. As Tsai is no slouch, she proposed constitutional reform in an attempt to turn the media spotlight back on the congress, while suppressing the pardon question.
Why else would she be in such a rush to propose something as major as constitutional reform?
Constitutional reform requires a qualified majority of three quarters of the legislature.
Considering that the pan-blue camp has requested a constitutional interpretation in connection to the handling of the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, how likely is it that a qualified majority would be reached?
Moreover, if there is to be constitutional reform, there is no need for judicial reform, as any judicial issues could be addressed through the constitutional reform process.
It puts into question what the judicial reform move was all about.
Chen’s proposal at a Taiwan Research Fund forum that a parliamentary system be introduced by 2024 and that the presidency be made into a figurehead might have affected Tsai.
One thing is certain: When it comes to Chen, Tsai is at a loss as to what to do.
Prior to the party congress, the Presidential Office spokesperson and “high-level party leaders” were in a rush to suggest conspiracies and plots, be it explicitly or indirectly, implying that they were not in control.
Whether to grant Chen a pardon is indeed up to the president, but with most party representatives signing the call to issue a pardon, they were putting pressure on Tsai. The Presidential Office’s response that the DPP does not direct the government did not improve matters.
As support for a pardon seemed to grow, was Tsai’s constitutional amendment proposal on target?
Tsai’s statement that “what the nation wants is not internal strife” — a metaphor for the calls to pardon Chen — revealed that, while Tsai might have naked designs on power, she does not have the high ground of authority.
Tsai’s intent to put the issue on ice at the party’s central executive committee was set into play by using the decisionmaking power of the party apparatus to call a break. Enough representatives left, allowing the issue to be postponed due to the lack of a quorum.
Tsai relied on the party rather than on her authority as chairperson to end the controversy over Chen’s pardon.
On the other hand, Chen, while powerless, has authority. After all, he commanded the support of most DPP representatives.
Moreover, at the aborted “Sing! China: Shanghai-Taipei Music Festival,” students held signs with his past slogan, “I am Taiwanese, one country on each side [of the Taiwan Strait].”
The effort to pardon Chen forced Tsai to abandon her policy to maintain the “status quo” and push for constitutional reform.
The push to pardon Chen was not a failure. Constitutional reform is not easy, and Tsai must be monitored to make sure that she delivers on her constitutional reform promise.
Chin Heng-wei is a political commentator.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS