Since the start of this month, explosive events in South Korea, France and Syria have shaken the world. In the US, president-elect Donald Trump has not yet taken office, but his foreign policy remarks and tariff threats have already put countries on edge. Taiwan must respond prudently to the volatile global situation, as the effects of external developments on its military, government and economy are still unknown.
On Dec. 3, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol sent shock waves across markets after he declared martial law in a late-night announcement. Although the declaration was lifted within six hours, it triggered protests calling for his removal. Yoon is under criminal investigation for alleged insurrection, abuse of authority and obstructing people from exercising their rights. He has been banned from leaving the country. On Saturday, South Korean lawmakers voted to impeach him and suspend him from his official duties, with a general election likely to be held next year if the Constitutional Court decides to remove him from office.
While South Korea’s political drama might be brief, it could dampen investors’ appetite for the country’s assets and deal a blow to its economy, which faces greater headwinds amid threats of tariff hikes by the incoming Trump administration. Taiwan must pay close attention to the political and economic developments in South Korea, as the relationship between the two East Asian economies is both competitive and cooperative.
Meanwhile in Europe, the French National Assembly on Dec. 4 ousted prime minister Michel Barnier in a no-confidence vote, just three months after he was appointed by French President Emmanuel Macron, making him the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history. The next day, Macron rejected demands that he step down early and said that the government’s top priority was to get next year’s budget passed.
The downfall of Barnier and his Cabinet is not only a political crisis, but also a financial disaster. Economic and trade relations between Taipei and Paris have grown steadily in the past few years, and Taiwan has earned a hard-won positive image among many French politicians after years of diplomatic efforts. However, the political turmoil in the eurozone’s second-biggest economy could affect relations with Taiwan.
At the same time, the collapse of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government coalition last month and a snap election expected in February could also impact Taiwan, especially amid the construction of a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co fab in Dresden, Germany.
Amid all these, the most crucial factor that could shape Taiwan’s future, as well as US policy toward China, is Trump’s return to the White House next month. During his election campaign, the former US president said he might not have as clear a commitment to defending Taiwan as US President Joe Biden does. Trump has also claimed that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry and demanded that Taiwan drastically increase its military spending and pay the US for “protection.”
Of course, Trump does not have the final say on Taiwan’s defense budget, but when it comes to Taiwan’s national security, aside from thanking the US for its concerns, it is urgent that the nation boost its military spending to enhance national defense. To this end, it is important that the ruling and opposition parties reach a consensus on bolstering the nation’s self-defense capabilities, rather than continuing with their domestic bickering and petty accusations about security. A solid emphasis on saving the country on our own is the appropriate response to Trump during his second presidency.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) has caused havoc with his attempts to overturn the democratic and constitutional order in the legislature. If we look at this devolution from the context of a transition to democracy from authoritarianism in a culturally Chinese sense — that of zhonghua (中華) — then we are playing witness to a servile spirit from a millennia-old form of totalitarianism that is intent on damaging the nation’s hard-won democracy. This servile spirit is ingrained in Chinese culture. About a century ago, Chinese satirist and author Lu Xun (魯迅) saw through the servile nature of
In their New York Times bestseller How Democracies Die, Harvard political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt said that democracies today “may die at the hands not of generals but of elected leaders. Many government efforts to subvert democracy are ‘legal,’ in the sense that they are approved by the legislature or accepted by the courts. They may even be portrayed as efforts to improve democracy — making the judiciary more efficient, combating corruption, or cleaning up the electoral process.” Moreover, the two authors observe that those who denounce such legal threats to democracy are often “dismissed as exaggerating or
Monday was the 37th anniversary of former president Chiang Ching-kuo’s (蔣經國) death. Chiang — a son of former president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who had implemented party-state rule and martial law in Taiwan — has a complicated legacy. Whether one looks at his time in power in a positive or negative light depends very much on who they are, and what their relationship with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is. Although toward the end of his life Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law and steered Taiwan onto the path of democratization, these changes were forced upon him by internal and external pressures,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus in the Legislative Yuan has made an internal decision to freeze NT$1.8 billion (US$54.7 million) of the indigenous submarine project’s NT$2 billion budget. This means that up to 90 percent of the budget cannot be utilized. It would only be accessible if the legislature agrees to lift the freeze sometime in the future. However, for Taiwan to construct its own submarines, it must rely on foreign support for several key pieces of equipment and technology. These foreign supporters would also be forced to endure significant pressure, infiltration and influence from Beijing. In other words,
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