Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je and his administration have come under fire with accusations that PTT accounts run by Taipei city government employees are used as part of a “cyber-army” aimed at improving Ko’s public image. PTT is an Internet forum popularly used in Taiwan, sometimes compared to Reddit in other parts of the world. The criticisms of Ko, as advanced by pan-Green politicians, broke out into controversy after a report by the Taipei city government...
The pan-Green camp saw a victory today, with independent legislator Freddy Lim retaining his seat in Zhongzheng-Wanhua in Taipei District 5, and Lin Ching-yi of the DPP winning the by-election for Taichung District 2, which includes Shalu, Longjing, Dadu, Wuri, and Wufeng. Voting took place in Taichung and Taipei from 8 AM to 4 PM. Vote counting in Zhongzheng-Wanhua was more or less finished by 5 PM, while Lin showed a clear lead in vote counting in Taichung earlier on. Although it was originally expected that results would be known by 7 PM, results were known far earlier...
The DPP currently faces controversy after a criminal case involving high-profile members of its Taipei party branch. The case eventually became larger enough that President Tsai Ing-wen, who is also chair of the DPP, called a meeting of the party’s local chapter heads, calling on the party to take stronger action to avoid elements of the party becoming mixed up with crime...
The Formosa Alliance's attempt to prove that Tsai Ing-wen’s dissertation is fake proves another strange turn for the recently formed pro-independence political party. In general, the Formosa Alliance is proving to be a party which seems to have no real political stance apart from hardline Taiwanese independence advocacy and hatred of Tsai Ing-wen...
Issues currently faced by the DPP regarding its choice of presidential candidate can probably be seen as a full-blown internal crisis at this point in time...
The political rhetoric of being “beyond blue and green” has had much staying power in the past four years. Nevertheless, recent events point to how “blue” and “green” political distinctions in Taiwan are here to stay, no matter what politicians may claim otherwise...
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...
