The Belgian Chamber of Representatives on Friday last week unanimously passed a resolution condemning Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intimidation against Taiwan.
It asked the Belgian government to advocate that the EU bolster its partnership with Taiwan, “with a view to promoting common values and principles, including by concluding a resilient supply chain agreement and a bilateral investment agreement.”
The agreements on resilient supply chains and bilateral investments are practical, mutually beneficial considerations; the promotion of common values and principles is harder to define and is in the realm of soft power — they are especially important as democracy is being challenged around the globe.
Taiwan is one of the few democracies in the world that still resorts to the death penalty. It is one issue in which Taiwan cannot be said to share common values and principles with the EU, and this point is not lost on Brussels. The continued use of capital punishment is problematic in terms of the progressive image that Taiwan projects abroad.
This does not mean in itself that it should be abolished in Taiwan: such is the nature of democracy. However, a watch is needed to prevent democracy being manipulated for political interests of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
A majority of Taiwanese — by some accounts, more than 80 percent — support maintaining the death penalty. Would that figure remain so high if the public were more informed on the issue, or if survey questions were presented with a range of alternatives, rather than a binary “abolish” or “retain” framing? If it still remained high, would that mean the democratic process had been exhausted? Should the political leaders and elected representatives throw up their hands and say: “It is the will of the public, there is nothing to be done”?
Instead of looking at the death penalty and the rights and wrongs thereof, perhaps the question can be approached from the perspective of what a strong democracy is and the part that elected representatives are supposed to play within this. Should they lead or represent? Does the electorate trust the elected representatives to implement the majority public whim, or do voters entrust themselves to the judgement and leadership of the individuals they choose to represent their constituencies?
On substantive issues, such as human rights or moral issues, sometimes a top-down approach is preferable, in which elected representatives lead the way with the trust that has been invested in them to do what they believe is right and then seek to educate later.
The Constitutional Court is one mechanism through which legitimacy can be provided to support this approach.
A referendum is a democratic process that allows for a large degree of bottom-up decisionmaking. It is useful to gain an understanding of the mood of the nation, but it should be used wisely and not to gain a political advantage. Neither should it be used as a substitute for real leadership.
The KMT is fooling nobody with its cynical call for a referendum against the abolition of the death penalty. It is nothing but a distraction exploiting a sure bet to improve its chances in the recall campaigns against its legislators, a short-term gain sacrificing the long-term prospects of bolstering relationships with overseas voices that could help Taiwan against CCP aggression.
The trick is nothing new. The opening line from a Taipei Times editorial published on June 16, 2015, reads: “A referendum proposal initiated by KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) on the death penalty shows that the party sees the extreme form of punishment as a tool for political gain.”
Fool us once, shame on you; fool us twice, shame on us all.
The Chinese government on March 29 sent shock waves through the Tibetan Buddhist community by announcing the untimely death of one of its most revered spiritual figures, Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche. His sudden passing in Vietnam raised widespread suspicion and concern among his followers, who demanded an investigation. International human rights organization Human Rights Watch joined their call and urged a thorough investigation into his death, highlighting the potential involvement of the Chinese government. At just 56 years old, Rinpoche was influential not only as a spiritual leader, but also for his steadfast efforts to preserve and promote Tibetan identity and cultural
Former minister of culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) has long wielded influence through the power of words. Her articles once served as a moral compass for a society in transition. However, as her April 1 guest article in the New York Times, “The Clock Is Ticking for Taiwan,” makes all too clear, even celebrated prose can mislead when romanticism clouds political judgement. Lung crafts a narrative that is less an analysis of Taiwan’s geopolitical reality than an exercise in wistful nostalgia. As political scientists and international relations academics, we believe it is crucial to correct the misconceptions embedded in her article,
Strategic thinker Carl von Clausewitz has said that “war is politics by other means,” while investment guru Warren Buffett has said that “tariffs are an act of war.” Both aphorisms apply to China, which has long been engaged in a multifront political, economic and informational war against the US and the rest of the West. Kinetically also, China has launched the early stages of actual global conflict with its threats and aggressive moves against Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan, and its support for North Korea’s reckless actions against South Korea that could reignite the Korean War. Former US presidents Barack Obama
The pan-blue camp in the era after the rule of the two Chiangs — former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) — can be roughly divided into two main factions: the “true blue,” who insist on opposing communism to protect the Republic of China (ROC), and the “red-blue,” who completely reject the current government and would rather collude with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to control Taiwan. The families of the former group suffered brutally under the hands of communist thugs in China. They know the CPP well and harbor a deep hatred for it — the two
RSS