Former president Chen Shui-bian was acquitted of corruption charges related to misuse of Presidential Office funds earlier today, following changes to the Accounting Act that were pushed for by the DPP. Chen is not cleared of all charges, however, and so this is not equivalent to a de facto pardon for him...
Annette Lu proves the perfect illustration of how many of yesterday’s revolutionaries have become today’s reactionaries in contemporary Taiwan. In fact, that individuals such as Lu or many others of her generation continue to be involved in contemporary Taiwanese politics ultimately threatens the future of Taiwan itself, in significantly increasing the likelihood of splits in the pan-Green camp in a manner that could result in a KMT victory...
FoxConn CEO Terry Gou surprised yesterday with an announcement that he would not be running in 2020 presidential elections, with Taipei mayor Ko wen-je stating earlier today in the wake of Gou's announcement that he also would not be running. Today, September 17th, was the deadline for registering with the Central Election Commission as an independent candidate. In the meantime, in the pan-Green camp, the Formosa Alliance has unexpectedly announced plans to run Annette Lu as their presidential candidate...
With former president Ma Ying-Jeou facing four months of imprisonment after being found guilty of leaking classified information by the Taiwan High Court, it seems predictable that the KMT will leverage on this fact to claim political persecution by the DPP...
Electoral politics in 2018 elections and beyond stand to be shaken up by the recent formation of the “Formosa Alliance”, which intends to push for reform of the Referendum Act in order to allow for a referendum on amending the name of the nation and settling long-standing issues regarding independence/unification. This referendum push could pose a challenge to the DPP in terms of seizing its traditional base...
A decision to avoid rocking the boat would seem to have been the primary result of the DPP’s annual National Congress meeting this weekend, with the DPP under Tsai Ing-Wen not taking any decided stance regarding a number of issues...
With recent polling by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation indicating that the majority of the Taiwanese public is dissatisfied with the government, this would be a sign of the Tsai administration’s failure to maintain the political momentum it rode into power on. However, although this does not absolve Tsai from blame for her political actions either, perhaps this ultimately is due to the characteristics of Taiwan’s democracy as a result of the process of Taiwanese democratization...
If the Tsai administration has taken surprisingly aggressive responses where disputed South China Seas islands are concerned, perhaps we can find answers as to why in the way the previous DPP presidency of the Chen Shui-Bian administration responded to the issue of South China Seas islands...