The B-movie drama of the “blue-white alliance” that has dragged on for too long has finally come to an end. New Taipei City Mayor and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜), Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) agreed to use public polling to decide on a coalition presidential ticket. They also agreed to form a coalition Cabinet if elected.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) benefits most from the alliance, as the KMT and the TPP will do Xi’s bidding in Taiwan.
The second winner is Ma, who does not want to be left alone after his departure from office. That Ma will announce the polling result proves that he is a proxy for China.
Ko also wins. With China’s help, he could increase his online presence and turn his political capital from potential to substance. Ko is still in charge of his party’s at-large vote, which means he can take advantage of the alliance regardless of the scenario.
The KMT is the loser and it has helped Ko become a stronger rival.
Chu said that the meeting was historic. This is indeed true. However, the meeting had nothing to do with advancing democracy. Instead, it is a “third united front” formed by the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The KMT has aligned itself with Ko and accepted the CCP. Most likely, the KMT is already trapped in the endgame.
The public is not fooled. The KMT and the TPP have repeatedy said that they are working together for a mutual goal, but what is this goal? To oust the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and uphold the CCP. It is no wonder the KMT has legislators like Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) and Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷), while the TPP defends someone like Xu Chun-ying (徐春鶯).
Chu said that 60 percent of the public hope for a change in the governing party. His statement is a political kidnapping of those who have not taken a side, and Chu is sending an incorrect message to the international community. When the blue and white camps say that a coalition would be formed, Taiwanese want to ask: Who exactly is involved in this coalition?
The world is changing rapidly. When the democratic alliance in the world is supporting Taiwan, Taiwanese must choose the right person for the sake of their future. The more than a century-old KMT has failed to reform and evolve. Taiwanese should refuse to be betrayed again. Ma’s eight years in office led to nothing but problems. Enough is enough.
Sheng I-che is the host of Face China.
Translated by Emma Liu
Would China attack Taiwan during the American lame duck period? For months, there have been worries that Beijing would seek to take advantage of an American president slowed by age and a potentially chaotic transition to make a move on Taiwan. In the wake of an American election that ended without drama, that far-fetched scenario will likely prove purely hypothetical. But there is a crisis brewing elsewhere in Asia — one with which US president-elect Donald Trump may have to deal during his first days in office. Tensions between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have been at
A nation has several pillars of national defense, among them are military strength, energy and food security, and national unity. Military strength is very much on the forefront of the debate, while several recent editorials have dealt with energy security. National unity and a sense of shared purpose — especially while a powerful, hostile state is becoming increasingly menacing — are problematic, and would continue to be until the nation’s schizophrenia is properly managed. The controversy over the past few days over former navy lieutenant commander Lu Li-shih’s (呂禮詩) usage of the term “our China” during an interview about his attendance
Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), the son of former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Politburo member and former Chongqing Municipal Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai (薄熙來), used his British passport to make a low-key entry into Taiwan on a flight originating in Canada. He is set to marry the granddaughter of former political heavyweight Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政), the founder of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東). Bo Xilai is a former high-ranking CCP official who was once a challenger to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the chairmanship of the CCP. That makes Bo Guagua a bona fide “third-generation red”
An article written by Uber Eats Taiwan general manager Chai Lee (李佳穎) published in the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) on Tuesday said that Uber Eats promises to engage in negotiations to create a “win-win” situation. The article asserted that Uber Eats’ acquisition of Foodpanda would bring about better results for Taiwan. The National Delivery Industrial Union (NDIU), a trade union for food couriers in Taiwan, would like to express its doubts about and dissatisfaction with Lee’s article — if Uber Eats truly has a clear plan, why has this so-called plan not been presented at relevant
RSS