Several hundred attended a memorial event on Ketagalan Boulevard to commemorate the one year anniversary of the death of NTU professor Jacques Picoux yesterday...
New Power Party chairman and legislator Huang Kuo-chang has found himself the target of a recall initiative which began earlier this year as a response to his public support of same-sex marriage, an initiative which seems to have garnered enough support in Huang’s New Taipei City Xizhi district to potentially initiate a recall vote...
A wave of mockery from Internet netizens has broken out against second-generation politicians that are the children of established politicians, with plans by children of both pan-Green and pan-Blue politicians to run for office. In particular, however, the DPP has been singled out for criticism with the view that this is a sign of how the DPP is no different from the KMT in terms of how it conducts politics...
Misleading reports in international media and even some domestic Taiwanese media have followed comments by recently appointed premier William Lai, with claims that Lai has stated support of Taiwanese independence, and made history as the first Taiwanese premier to openly express such sentiments. This is incorrect, given that Lai’s position has shifted on the issue, but rather is a misunderstanding which has resulted from past statements by Lai...
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 Lin Chuan's resignation as premier and his replacement by William Lai, as well as an impending cabinet shuffle, changes would be afoot in the Tsai administration. As has been pointed out, very likely the Tsai administration has its eye on midterm approval ratings with its reshuffle, but the switch is probably also aimed at turning over a new leaf in the public eye...
Several attempts by the KMT to delegitimize the actions of the Tsai administration which it views as threatening to its power of late have taken the curious tactic of reporting the Tsai administration to the Control Yuan...
Recent actions by members of the pan-Blue camp once again go to show how the pan-Blue camp has largely failed to reckon with its authoritarian past in demonstrating its fundamental disrespect for the institutions Taiwanese democracy. We can point to widely discussed recent events as an example of this, as seen in accusations of Facebook censorship by the DPP as part of a "Green Terror" and an incident in which a China Times intern took to throwing water balloons at pan-Green legislators...
With Ko Wen-Je and William Lai increasingly taking flak from the public regarding statements that are perceived as too compromising of Taiwanese sovereignty to China, one generally suspects their attempt establish independent foreign relations with China is doomed if they aim to accomplish this through placating China. Both may be misreading current trends in Taiwanese identity and views of what Taiwan's international status should be...
While the internal crisis of the KMT has been ongoing for some time, it may be that it is not only the KMT, but also the DPP which is presently in the midst of a political crisis...
