State of nation tactics
None of the three parties in the new legislature have more than half of the total seats. With the new legislative session about to begin, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of the pan-blue camp and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) of the white camp have been sharpening their knives.
For the KMT, caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) said he would push for the normalization of a presidential state of the nation address to the legislature and seek amendments to compel the president to answer questions from lawmakers.
TPP secretary-general Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) agreed, saying that it would be “the sooner the better” for a rule change and that the state of the nation address should be a “question and answer” session to prevent the president from evading accountability.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) demanded that president-elect William Lai (賴清德) “answer all the questions, and answer them truthfully” after he takes office as president on May 20 following his election victory with the Democratic Progressive Party last month.
The Legislative Yuan — which is the highest organ of public opinion in Taiwan — is responsible for monitoring the government.
This is indeed in line with the operation of a democratic constitutional system.
However, under the “five power” Constitution, the highest organ of the administrative branch is the Executive Yuan, with the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan on the same level.
Although the Constitution clearly and definitively states that the premier and his Cabinet members should face questions from the legislature, there is no legal basis for the opposition camp to demand that the president be subjected to such a process as well.
Before an amendment is passed, it should remain a constitutional norm for the legislature to be limited to questioning the premier and Cabinet members.
The opposition camp’s demand for an “impromptu” session of “answering all the questions and answering them truthfully” is at best a disguised threat or an insult to the president.
Moreover, given the uneven quality, knowledge and cultivation of legislators, they would be unable to put aside their resentments —be they personal or because of their party — during a question-and-answer session.
If the lawmakers are unable to ask meaningful questions, how can they expect the president to answer them truthfully?
If the pan-blue and white camps continue to play tricks, it might even trigger public protests.
Tien Fong-wen
Taipei
The return of US president-elect Donald Trump to the White House has injected a new wave of anxiety across the Taiwan Strait. For Taiwan, an island whose very survival depends on the delicate and strategic support from the US, Trump’s election victory raises a cascade of questions and fears about what lies ahead. His approach to international relations — grounded in transactional and unpredictable policies — poses unique risks to Taiwan’s stability, economic prosperity and geopolitical standing. Trump’s first term left a complicated legacy in the region. On the one hand, his administration ramped up arms sales to Taiwan and sanctioned
The US election result will significantly impact its foreign policy with global implications. As tensions escalate in the Taiwan Strait and conflicts elsewhere draw attention away from the western Pacific, Taiwan was closely monitoring the election, as many believe that whoever won would confront an increasingly assertive China, especially with speculation over a potential escalation in or around 2027. A second Donald Trump presidency naturally raises questions concerning the future of US policy toward China and Taiwan, with Trump displaying mixed signals as to his position on the cross-strait conflict. US foreign policy would also depend on Trump’s Cabinet and
The Taiwanese have proven to be resilient in the face of disasters and they have resisted continuing attempts to subordinate Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Nonetheless, the Taiwanese can and should do more to become even more resilient and to be better prepared for resistance should the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) try to annex Taiwan. President William Lai (賴清德) argues that the Taiwanese should determine their own fate. This position continues the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) tradition of opposing the CCP’s annexation of Taiwan. Lai challenges the CCP’s narrative by stating that Taiwan is not subordinate to the
Republican candidate and former US president Donald Trump is to be the 47th president of the US after beating his Democratic rival, US Vice President Kamala Harris, in the election on Tuesday. Trump’s thumping victory — winning 295 Electoral College votes against Harris’ 226 as of press time last night, along with the Republicans winning control of the US Senate and possibly the House of Representatives — is a remarkable political comeback from his 2020 defeat to US President Joe Biden, and means Trump has a strong political mandate to implement his agenda. What does Trump’s victory mean for Taiwan, Asia, deterrence
RSS