Taiwan’s political system was described at a Washington conference on Tuesday as a sort of “liquid muck.”
Former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan Richard Bush used the analogy as he described President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) ongoing problems.
Bush said that he had been searching for an image to capture the nature of the nation’s political system.
“The one that comes to mind is quicksand,” he said.
Now director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, Bush was a member of a panel at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace that was analyzing Ma’s videoconference to the US earlier in the week.
“Many of us will remember, from watching Western movies and serials, the episodes where the hero is dragged down by this liquid muck,” he said.
Unless something happens, Bush said, the hero is pulled under and asphyxiated.
“Taiwan’s political system is a lot like that, or at least its relationship with its president is a lot like that,” Bush said.
He said there were pressures on the president coming from every direction — the president’s own party, the opposition party, the legislature and incessant media coverage.
“It is hard to maintain focus, to maintain direction and strategy,” Bush said.
This was why, he said, the videoconference was “very important.”
He said that Ma’s speech acted as a reminder to the president and to his constituency about “where we were, where we intend to go and how we are doing.”
Bush admitted that his analogy was derogatory and went on to praise Taiwan’s democracy as a “stabilizing force.”
He said it acted as a break on initiatives that “suggest independence” and also as a break on “mindless and rapid movement” toward unification with China.
He said that the nation’s democracy set the boundaries within which any Taiwanese leader must work.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated