The Formosa Alliance is to hold a public rally in Taipei tomorrow. It is not intended to be a demonstration or parade, but it seems to have sent the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) leadership into a tizzy.
The party has forbidden its officials from participating and has prohibited its candidates from taking photographs with the alliance’s campaign car. Any violator is to be disciplined.
This is the first time the DPP has ever imposed such restrictions. It has never banned its members from contacting, socializing, having their pictures taken with or eating with groups affiliated with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or even Chinese Communist Party personnel.
It seems that the alliance is the sole exception. People might wonder what taboo the alliance has violated to incur such treatment.
The rally was organized to show opposition to Chinese annexation and promote referendums on independence and the nation’s participation in the UN.
These proposals were already set out in the Declaration of Formosan Self-Salvation published in 1964, and are the ultimate objective for which the DPP was established in the first place.
The largest difference in opinion is likely coming from DPP decisionmakers’ preoccupation with maintaining the Republic of China’s form of government and its adherence to the cross-strait “status quo,” while ruling out referendums on drafting a new constitution, on independence and establishing a new nation.
It is truly astonishing to see the party take foe for friend while regarding an ally as its archenemy.
The DPP holds the presidency and has a legislative majority — why would it not invite the alliance’s leadership to negotiate face-to-face and search for a consensus in pursuit of higher ideals?
Haggling over every ounce for the upcoming elections is shortsighted and childish. If the DPP wants to abandon its tragically heroic spirit, then what are its former fervent supporters — including this author — to do?
A friend of mine, who works in the party’s upper echelons, has told me that I might be being used.
I have been watching the actions of the DPP since it assumed the reins of government; I have looked askance at its fecklessness and sluggishness. If someone chooses to join forces with others who have the same vision, how can you say that they are being “used”?
Who knows how many people originally had no intention to participate in the rally, but have decided to join to protest the DPP?
Rally participants need to bear in mind that lambasting others for “having political ambition” or “just wanting to be president” is not the only way to protest — expressing encouragement and praise is more constructive than verbal assault or throwing mud.
The public wishes to see more people of higher ideals and with more knowledge, competence and ambition take part in politics and run for president.
Having watched the performance of the DPP’s leadership, many people have become deeply worried about the party and the nation’s future.
Peng Ming-min is a former presidential adviser.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming
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
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
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
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS