Let us imagine a situation where a man is dining at a restaurant. When he orders, he asks for something not spicy. Anything would do, just not spicy. The cook therefore randomly adds all kinds of seasonings in the dish, except chili peppers. The dish comes out sweet, salty and sour. Even some expired ingredients have been added to it. Would you like to try this dish? It is called the “non-green alliance.”
On the surface, it looks like all kinds of groups that oppose the pan-green camp can join and work together, but the alliance is actually a terrible hodgepodge. To put it more straightforwardly, the non-green alliance is rife with conflicts and contradictions between the groups of which it consists. Each group wants to take the lead and no one is willing to play second fiddle. The so-called non-green alliance might soon end up in a series of self-contradictions. Before the alliance has a chance to confront the pan-green camp, it might well start consuming itself.
With “non-green” in its name, the alliance should clarify why it is against the pan-green camp. If the non-green alliance is against “anti-communism” or against “anti-unification,” Taiwanese must express their opinions on these issues.
There are already some conflicts inside the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). It is difficult to say whether the KMT’s New Taipei City Mayor and presidential candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜) can deal with all of the related challenges.
However, the KMT is still attempting to work with the white camp and collaborate with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), and whose political attitude is unclear. The KMT is in disarray, and the situation might become even more chaotic.
From the perspective of the white camp, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has become the second favorite for the presidency. If Ko wanted to collaborate with someone and form an alliance, he would certainly think about asking Gou rather than Hou, given that Hou’s support rate has been the lowest among the three candidates. Obviously, although the KMT wants to work with the TPP, the effort of bringing the white and the pan-blue camps together appears to be very much a one-sided affair with regard to which party is putting in the most effort.
Be it blue, white or green, every political camp must propose its own concrete agendas to win over voters. A restaurant’s dish must be unique enough to attract customers, but no customer would allow a restaurant to serve a dish that has been cooked haphazardly. Similarly, voters would care about the content of each political camp, rather than agreeing with anything that is non-green.
Chen Wen-ching works in environmental services.
Translated by Emma Liu
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then