Politics

Lai Administration to Introduce New Notification System for Public Servants of Travel to China

The Lai administration plans to roll out a new system requiring public servants to notify the government before travel to China. This will affect public servants at all levels, whether they are elected officials or not. Legislators, public servants, members of the military, borough chiefs, and others will all be required to notify the government of planned travel to China, as well as comply with regulations when there...

Appeasement in the Name of Anti-War is Rising: How Can We Build Solidarity Based on Resistance?

Writer Lung Ying-Tai has emphasized that for Taiwan, "there can be no democracy without first ensuring peace." In recent years, Lung has consistently identified herself as "anti-war," advocating for Taiwan to avoid conflict and seek peace. Similarly, in 2023, four scholars in Taiwan started an advocacy for a "Ukraine-Russia armistice agreement"(烏俄停戰談判), "opposing a US-China war"(反對美中戰爭), and "maintaining an equally friendly diplomatic relationship with great powers"(與大國維持友好等距外交)—all under the banner of an anti-war stance...

KMT Calls for Recall of Lai Ching-te At Rally

The KMT claimed 250,000 in attendance at a rally against DPP recalls held yesterday on Ketagalan Boulevard. Aerial photographs do not seem to correspond to this claim, but either way, the pan-Blue camp was out in force against the DPP in what was a de facto campaign rally for the pan-Blue camp. Both the KMT and its smaller ally party, the TPP, were present...

Is the KMT Seeking to Expand Its Reach Over Security Powers?

A new security measure introduced by KMT legislator Chen Yeong-kang aims to shift security powers to the legislature from the executive. Consequently, the proposal has been criticized by the DPP as an attempt to arrogate further powers from the executive branch of government and to bring this under the control of the KMT-controlled legislature–specifically those powers pertaining to defense...

In Summit Meeting with Huang Kuo-Chang, Eric Chu Backs Notion of Dissolving Cabinet

A summit meeting between KMT chair Eric Chu and TPP chair Huang Kuo-chang resulted in the two parties both vowing to resist the Lai administration. At the same time, it is unclear whether the two parties see eye-to-eye on the major issue that was to be discussed, with no clear agreement having come out of the meeting. The event was a live-streamed, open discussion...

Electoral Impact of DPP Spying Cases Likely Limited

A series of scandals have broken out regarding Chinese espionage cases at high levels of the DPP. Though several cases have now been reported, the highest profile has been that of a former assistant of National Security Council secretary-general Joseph Wu. It, of course, raises concerns that an assistant of Taiwan’s top national security official was implicated in Chinese espionage...

In Unusual Turn, Calls for Dissolution of Cabinet and New Elections Break Out in KMT

The ongoing wave of recalls against all KMT legislators has taken a strange turn, with proposals from some elements of the pan-Blue camp to dissolve the cabinet. If so, this would trigger a legal mechanism that would allow for the legislature to be dismissed and a new set of general elections to be held, if the Premier and the President of the Legislative Yuan agree on this...