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Taiwan democracy ¡¹ freedom comments ¡¹ this site's world No.1 in 2020~22, 2017~19, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2010~12 ¡¹ Top rankings since 1998 ¡¹ |
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Taiwan |
Taiwan's democracy |
is at surface level |
Brookings, 2022-4-18: Focus on interests, not ideology (stressing Taiwan's role in a global contest between democracy and autocracy), to strengthen Taiwan's standing (brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2022/04/18/focus-on-interests-not-ideology-to-strengthen-taiwans-standing/). Taiwanese love democracy, however, Japan Times (2022-4-6, japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2022/04/06/commentary/world-commentary/taiwans-fatal-attractions/) comments Taiwanese leaders lavished praise on people who undermined that democracy's security and gave financial supports to corrupt regime and "White Terror" operations in some countries; further more, Taiwan is criticized or reported as "Green Terror"
by People's Daily, commentary, 10-15-2020.¡´ 2024 presidential election & major elections
US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released at 2022-4-12 : In 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties. United Daily, editorial, 2022-4-24: All political parties try to influence public opinions or do media framing by manipulating polls (udn.com/news/story/7338/6262274?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2). Brookings, 2021-12-27: Beijing have bandwidth and incentive to try to create a political environment in Taiwan conducive to their preferences for the 2024 election. (brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/12/27/steadying-taiwan-for-a-storm-on-the-horizon/) Global Times, 2021-12-11: "If the DPP faces difficulties in the next election in 2024, it's likely to create trouble and further unbalance the current situation, as the political environment in Taiwan is too ideologically-driven and politicized". France 24, Reuters, 2021-12-18: Taiwan's opposition suffered a major setback on Saturday after voters rejected four referendums (france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20211218-taiwan-votes-against-referendums-on-us-trade-in-major-setback-for-opposition) al jazeera , 2021-12-18: Referendums that, if approved, might have affected Taiwan's ties with key backer the United States and its energy security failed to pass on Saturday, in a major setback to the opposition which had cast the votes as a show of no-confidence in the government. (aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/18/taiwan-referendums-fail-in-major-setback-for-opposition) United Daily , editorial, 2021-12-19: Compared with the ruling party's "in unity there is a strength", Pan-Blue (opposition) internally attacked each other, some among them intentionally kept a distance with four referendums ¡C(udn.com/news/story/7338/5972353?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2)
Brookings, 2021-7-30 (brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/07/30/examining-the-role-of-cross-strait-relations-in-taiwans-politics/): Lev Nachman: from extensive political science research we know that the dominant political factor in every Taiwanese election is the China factor. All other issues are secondary or filtered through the China factor lens. Taiwanese voters are far more pragmatic than we typically assume ... TIME 2021-7-26 (time.com/6083748/taiwan-vaccines-terry-gou-foxconn/ ) : Most people, 48%, are non-partisan and some now support smaller parties, like TPP led by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je. Foxconn Terry Gou has earned a place in Taiwanese hearts for his determination to provide Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. From that deal, ¡§To some extent, China has won points¡¨ and Tsai's ruling DPP lost 15% of its supporters. The Hill, 2021-11-24: Beijing does not want Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to be succeeded in early 2024 by her vice president, Lai ... undoubtedly would cause Beijing to accelerate its efforts to take Taiwan. | ¡@
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L.A.
Times, 2021-12-9:
In
struggle between autocracy and democracy, Biden chooses Taiwan for his
team. CNN, 2021-10-27 edition.cnn.com/2021/10/27/asia/tsai-ingwen-taiwan-china-interview-intl-hnk/index.html Taiwan Pres: "Democracy sometimes is chaotic. It's messy, confrontational, ...", ¡@ UDN, WorldJournal, 2021-12-9: Taiwan's former pres. Ma: Taiwan is an "illiberal democracy", "a democratically-elected autocracy" |
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¡´
"Black-Gold" politics vs. democracy
New
York Times, 1-11-2020 :
Taiwan's young and vibrant, if messy at times, democratic society.
N.Y. Times,
12-1-2019: the
soft underbelly of
Taiwanese politics: patronage networks.
They continue to
allow
community leaders, farmers¡¦ associations and even
organized-crime figures to buy votes
( NY Times, opinion : https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/opinion/china-taiwan-election.html
). USA
Country Reports on Human Rights
practices, 2021-3-30:
There were allegations of vote buying by
candidates and supporters of both major political parties (KMT and DPP) in
Presidential election in 2020.
'Mr
Democracy'
Lee Teng-hui
(§õµn½÷)
employed
"Black-Gold"
politics ( SCMP, 7-30-2020:
the use of extensive factional networks, regardless of whether they were linked
to local interest groups or underworld figures
scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3095139/lee-teng-hui-controversial-figure-hailed-taiwans-father
;
Heritage, 3-17-2000:
local slang for the party's ties to gangsters, corruption and illegal financial
transactions.
) ,
for
a long run, the rottenness in the
powerful political family
and
patronage networks
have been a structural issue, and
never changed regardless of
transitions of power.
United Daily ( editorial 8-6-2020, opinion
8-3-2020)
:
Corruption in parliament seems never end.
Lawmakers in similar cases were judged not guilty or not
decided yet after
more than 10 years' investigations, therefore UDN questions "Does Taiwan's
judiciary fail to find out the truth once facing lawmakers ??"
At Aug. 2, 2020, top presidential aide resigns amid nephew's ( a DPP
lawmaker ) bribery allegations, the
image of parliament and Taiwan's democracy tarnishes again after some lawmakers
detained for graft probe
at 8-4-2020.
The China Times (8-6-2020)
points out
the ruling party DPP
is good at winning the vote, instead of governing the state, huge expense spent
for election needs to be 'returned', therefore, results in abusing their power and
corruption.
In today's Taiwan, even county councilmen needs election
expenses up to USD 3 millions, not to mention lawmakers or president.
Apple Daily, editorial,
8-3-2020:
Lawmakers of same party share
illegal benefits or cover each other, and usually won't disclose political
rivals' greasy palms, that's Taiwan's political culture and 'ecology'.
( brief of https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/20200803/BQXMSWTYOVERHBPGLUKPXAA5LQ/)
Since 2018's basic-level election, totally 12
speakers/chairpersons of city council or county council
handed in their position to relative or son. (
Apple Daily, editorial 8-4-2020
https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/20200804/FH6DI3F3CYJV2SOIIEGKRGDHKQ/
;
for more
Pork Barrel examples, see TVBS news,
12-10-2019 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY6TP7JW398 )
In addition to
greedy politicians, Brookings
(1-22-2021) :
Only 23% Taiwanese people
thought that democracy was more important than economic development, 16%
believed that protecting political freedom was more important than reducing
economic inequality. (brookings.edu/articles/taiwans-democracy-and-the-china-challenge/)
¡»
¡´ Democracy is harmed for national security, national security is harmed for democracy
Taiwan's democracy influences its national security. China keeps inching closer to Taiwan, hence western experts (e.g., Foreign Policy, 10-28-2020, Financial Times (UK), 7-12-2020 ) warned Taiwan to make urgent defense reforms such as increasing the existing four-month conscription and improving reservist systems , but, Taiwanese politicians are afraid to discuss these issues with the public for months because they believe Taiwanese people are not willing to sacrifice, and considering electoral realities, Taiwan¡¦s leaders don't want to shift from volunteer military service to mandatory military service with same training period as Singapore's or Korea's, because such a policy could be deeply unpopular among the young voters courted by the ruling party (DPP), according to Foreign Policy (10-19-2020). New York Times (5-18-2017) criticized Taiwan's nearly two million reservists "exist in name only" - but nothing big has changed till present, in spite of western analyst's warning "With China¡¦s rapid military buildup, that may be time that Taiwan does not have.". On the other hand, Taiwan's democracy is harmed in the name of national security. An academic paper of NanHua University published in June 2020 concludes: Taiwan¡¦s democracy has shown a retrogressive trend in recent years, the freedom of speech, publication, assembly etc were persecuted by excuses such as national security. (Shih-Yueh Yang, Ph.D, Walish Temu) United Daily, editorial,10-10-2020 (https://udn.com/news/story/7338/4924067): The democracy and freedom of speech are falling back for being threatened by "certain power". Some western politicians giving Taiwan compliments or rhapsody are merely based on political purpose to needle China. Taiwan deserves becoming a safe haven, but at the moment is far from "a beacon for democracy and human rights" or "a model democracy". Global Times, 9-17-2020: The Taiwan authorities often brag about "freedom and democracy" in the island, which are self-comforting empty slogans.
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¡@ ¡@
pic.
: No.1 "Taiwan democracy", on Microsoft Bing,
2022-3-22, 2022-2-11, 2022-1-30, 2022-1-3, 2021-12-29, 2021-12-16, 2021-12-9, 2021-11-29, 2021-11-21, 2021-11-1, 2021-10-7, 2021-9-6,
2021-8-5, 2021-6-24, 2021-6-1, 2021-5-13,
2021-10-6, 2021-9-5, 2021-8-1, 2021-6-1, 2021-5-9, 3-12-2021, 2-28-2021, 2-12-2021, 1-27-2021, 1-24-2021, 1-11-2021, 01-01-2021
¡@ ¡@
pic. : TOP
rank "Taiwan democracy", on Microsoft Bing,
2022-3-21, 2022-2-10, 2022-1-31,
2022-1-2, 2021-12-28, 2021-11-28,
2021-11-15
¡@
¡@
pic.: No.1 "Taiwan democracy" on Ecosia of Germany, 2022-3-22, 2022-2-11,
2022-1-30,
2022-1-3, 2021-12-29,
2021-11-29, 2021-11-15,
2021-5-31,
2021-5-9,
2-28-2021,
11-14-2020,
8-8-2020,
7-24-2020,
6-25-2020,
6-21-2020 ¡@ ¡@
¡@
pic.: No.1 "Taiwan democracy" on US Yahoo
search,
2022-2-11,
2022-1-2, 2021-12-29, 10-14-2020, 9-19-2020, 9-15-2020, 9-9-2020; No.2 at
2021-9-6, 2021-8-5, 2021-6-1; among top ranks at
2022-3-22 ¡@
¡@
¡@
pic. : No.1 "Taiwanese democracy", on
Yandex of Russia,
2021-11-15; No.2
"Taiwan
democracy"on
Yandex of Russia,
2022-1-3,
2021-12-29; among top ranks at 2022-3-22
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US Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices
released at 2022-4-12
:
In
2020
presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen won
re-election,...there were allegations of vote buying
by candidates and supporters of both major political parties.
|
N.Y. Times,
12-1-2019: the
soft underbelly of
Taiwanese politics: patronage networks.
|
¡@ |
¡»
¡´ Scuffles are common in the parliament
The New York Times
declared in a 1992 editorial : "
New York Times, 6-28-2020: Taiwan is a rambunctious democracy and fights and protests inside the parliament building are not an uncommon occurrence. The Express (UK) and SCMP at 6-29-2020 : Taiwan¡¦s democracy is boisterous with fights and protests a common occurrence inside the parliament building... The ruling DPP's large parliamentary majority and obstinacy had left the KMT ( main opposition Kuomintang or Nationalist Party) with no alternative but to occupy the parliament ( Legislative Yuan ) to protest against government ¡§tyranny¡¨ ( AFP: KMT refuses the list of corrupt nominees, the Diplomat: Chen Chu will not be impartial to head oversight board as she is top aide & advisor to President Tsai , Australian Associated Press: KMT has accused the DPP of cheating in part of the vote on nomination ). A lot of scuffles erupted as lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) broke through barricades erected by KMT... Such brawls are a fact of life in Taiwan and happened regularly for about 30 years in parliament, 40+ years in the streets ( Formosa TV, 7-2-2020, China Times, 7-4-2020 ). Two weeks later, more fighting as Taiwan opposition again occupies parliament, Reuters, New York Times, 7-14-2020: Violence and protests inside the chamber are not unusual in Taiwan. AFP UK, Australian Associated Press, CNA Singapore, 7-17-2020: Taiwan is a boisterous, sometimes unruly democracy. France24, AFP, 7-14-2020: Taiwan's parliament was once notorious for mass brawls among lawmakers and has been the location of frequent protests. Scuffles broke out over reform policies and pension cuts when President Tsai first took office four years ago... After four months, chaotic clashes are seen again, French AFP and France 24 (11-27-2020) described scuffles in this time as "particularly novel", Guardian UK (11-27-2020) called it "disgusting" ― unlike hair pulling, throwing punches, chairs, eggs and even water balloons in previous protests, lawmakers hurl pig intestines, hearts, liver, lungs and other organs at their DPP rivals and exchange ham-fist punches, leaving the chamber's crimson carpet streaked with ropy strands of intestine and milky viscera for government's allowing imports of U.S. pork containing ractopamine, an additive that enhances leanness but is banned by More than 150 countries including European Union and China. The KMT also accused DPP of hypocrisy because they were heavily against ractopamine while as opposition. Reuters (11-23-2020) reports opposition's slogan "Taiwanese pigs don't eat ractopamine and yet you are asking Taiwanese people to?". Washington Post (11-27-2020) : scholar says Taiwanese voters generally viewed brawls negatively but that they were important ways to send signals to each party's die-hard supporters.
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L.A. Times, 11-22-2020:
thousands march in Taiwan streets against US pork imports, a giant
inflatable pig (slogan: Betraying pig farmers) flown above the crowd.
www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-11-22/thousands-march-in-taiwan-streets-against-us-pork-imports |
Guardian UK, 11-27-2020: Parliamentarians in Taiwan have
thrown pig guts at each other before coming to blows over plans to allow
US meat imports. www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/27/taiwan-politicians-throw-pig-guts-meat-row UDN 11-23-20: gov. refuses "import from US" mark and allows US pork on campus ( to smooth trade relations with the Trump adm.) |
¡¹ Brookings, 2021-7-12: if Taiwan voters reverse Tsai¡¦s pledge to open Taiwan¡¦s market to the same pork products that American citizens eat... would seal shut the door to anything more than incremental progress on U.S.-Taiwan trade relations...other major economies would follow suit. brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/07/12/taiwan-voters-should-look-before-they-leap-on-pork-referendum/ |
¡»
In 2014, hundreds of students occupied parliament for weeks
in protests
demanding KMT ruling party more transparent politics,
some students became today's lawmakers.
But now DPP has accused the KMT of
subverting the democratic process.
The
Diplomat (7-16-2020) called the
scuffles
"the
return of what was once an internationally known tradition in Taiwan: brawls in
the legislature over controversial votes on bills or appointments",
"opposition parties have
used violence to stop votes on laws or confirmations, with the KMT resorting
to the tactic several times since the DPP gained a legislative majority in
2016". N.Y.
based Canadian media VICE
analyzed
at 6-30-2020 that lawmakers' apparently quick tempers ( vandalism, hurling chairs, pulling hairs, wrestling
opponents
to the ground...
according to a history compiled by the BBC ; punch, water balloons thrown, "bites"
& stuck to lawmaker's arm, pulled across the ground, reported by AFP, Next TV )
are rather a form of political theater to show
their voters and supporters who do buy the moves. Brookings (1-22-2021)
comments the performance of Taiwan's democracy
―
the political system does not do so well
on its "performance". This is partly
because of a set of structural factors. Selecting the president and legislature
on a majoritarian basis fosters a degree of polarization and complicates the
crafting of policy compromises. (brookings.edu/articles/taiwans-democracy-and-the-china-challenge/)
¡»
¡´ Weak opposition
Taiwan lacks good separation & balance of powers between the ruling party and the opposition, the executive and the legislative, the government and the media. Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun (¡m¤é¥»経済·s»D¡n, editorial, 5-21-2020 ) and Taiwan's Apple Daily ( editorial, 6-10-2020 ) : Taiwan's democracy without a strong opposition to question the government and hold them accountable is in grave danger, the biggest opposition, KMT, needs to regain its strength. But New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/06/28/world/asia/28reuters-taiwan-politics.html) and US News & World Report comment at 6-28-2020: The KMT is undergoing a policy revamp to try and win back popular support, but faces an uphill struggle. such as:
¡» New York Times, 2-12-2021 (nytimes.com/2021/02/12/world/asia/taiwan-kuomintang-china.html) : The Beijing-friendly party, KMT has been criticized (1) out of touch with modern Taiwanese life (2) mind-set is more conservative (3) signal the identity crisis ... They have espoused democratic values and human rights, promised to recruit younger members and better engage the public, and sought to distance the party from Beijing.
¡» National Interest, 2-4-2021 ( nationalinterest.org/feature/taiwan¡¦s-kmt-ideological-crossroads-177608?page=0%2C1 ): Taiwan¡¦s KMT Is at an Ideological Crossroads. As China exerts immense pressure on Taiwan, the party will have to make a choice between more viable electorally or become a pro-Beijing wrecking ball?
¡» aljazeera 11-12-2020 (aljazeera.com/features/2020/11/12/why-are-taiwans-new-generation-a-test-for-the-kmt) points out the China-friendly party KMT is on the ropes in that the coffers are running dry, greying heavyweights're still trying to manipulate the agenda, and their patriarchal culture makes reforms difficult.
¡»
Diplomat,
4-21-2021:
the ¡§pro-mainland¡¨ Kuomintang and Ko Wen-je¡¦s Taiwan People¡¦s Party pose no
credible opposition against the prevailing ruling party
(thediplomat.com/2021/04/beijings-military-heavy-approach-to-taiwan-locks-the-us-and-china-in-a-security-dilemma/
)
¡»
United Daily, 11-14-2020 editorial,
(udn.com/news/story/7338/5014020?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2):
the ruling party threatened the opposition to silence important issues like national
security, food safety, economic industry chain, by "questioning the government
is equal to anti-USA".
¡»
Japan's
Nikkei Asia (11-19-2020) notes that
as China ramps up its threats
against Taiwan, the KMT is "burdened" by its pro-China image.
the
KMT believes maintaining the consensus brings stable cross-strait relations,
although youngsters may say the KMT is old and conservative (e.g., on
same-sex marriage issue).
¡»
South China Morning Post, 2-6-2021:"Taiwan
needs a strong leader"!
Jaw
Shaw-kong's
return to politics could spark infighting within KMT and would be a serious
threat to the DPP if allowed to run for president.
¡»
China Times, 2021-6-18, editorial: opposition law
makers now are even hard to to request for data files, not to mention to boycott
the ruling party. chinatimes.com/opinion/20210617005424-262101?chdtv
¡»
United Daily, 2021-8-1,
editorial:
KMT lacks aggressions,
political landscape on political issues and agenda, its member put personal
future above party's future.
udn.com/news/story/7338/5641637?from=udn_ch2_menu_v2_main_cate (¥Á¶iÄÒ¥¢¼w¥¢¯à¥¢¬F)
¡»
United Daily,
2021-7-12, editorial:
Legislative Yuan (parliament) suppose is the
highest public opinion institution, however,
the leader of law-makers of ruling
party is willing to follow president's intention and cover up administration's
mistakes, opposition failed to stop they pass every their legal cases, Taiwan's
democracy therefore is more and more opaque. udn.com/news/story/7338/5594717?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
¡»
The China Times (chinatimes.com/opinion/20200806005356-262105?chdtv), opinion (8-7-2020): Originally the parliament provides effective checks and balances on the power of president, but 6-times amendments of the Constitution by former president Lee T.H. eliminated the key mechanism of democracy, balance of powers, therefore leads to endless corruptions - the "Sunshine Law" trickly Justifies taking bribes , and a weird phenomenon - the premier takes the responsibility but lacks of power, the president hold the power but no responsibility. United Daily, 7-28-2020, editorial: CPP lawmakers in parliament are worse than a "rubber stamp", just followed every order the administration gave, therefore the parliament already lost its own voices. Moreover, the president seriously intervened Judicial Yuan, and the Control Yuan now becoming a oversight board with political inclination and partization. Once all five powers are under president's control, how can we maintain a system of democracy & freedom ? Therefore, even DPP friendly media, the Liberty Times, (editorial, 1-12-2020) criticized the ruling party ( dominance in power ) was rotten and smells. One example is the opposition DPP in 2012 staged a brute-force, five-day-four-night-long occupation of the Legislative Yuan podium to resist "toxic beef" ( US beef with Ractopamine ), but now in 2020 the ruling party DPP announced the decision on easing restrictions on US pork and beef imports without consulting parliament, legislative caucus, and farmers.
¡¹¡¹
¡@
The recent issue of <Yazhou Zhoukan
> (¨È¬w©P¥Z)
published in Hong Kong depicts Taiwan president Tsai I. W. as an "Empress
with Imperial
robe and crown"¡A<DW>
of Germany
(Chinese
edition,
12-25-2020)
and <RFI>
of France
(Chinese edition, 12-27-2020)
both quoted its reports such as the
founder
of
DPP, the
ruling party and former Taiwan president chastised
the new
democratic authoritarianism
leading to a
submissive
Legislative Yuan and a yes-man judiciary, Taiwan became the first
democratic country
to shut
a TV channel by denying the
license renewal,
and to abuse police power to investigate & interview ordinary people
with
opposing views which have snowballed...... ¡@ Who makes
Taiwan's "democratic
authoritarianism"
?
¡@ (2)
<RFI> 12-27-2020 : A highly esteemed
academician
of Sinica (¤¤¥¡¬ã¨s°|)
points out: Containing China
is
the biggest
goal of U.S. foreign policy, Taiwan's
democracy good or bad is not the point for western media,
therefore Taiwan president
has a free hand
and
a strong backing
to
carry on
authoritative
or
aggressive activities under the cloak of legality.
United Daily, editorial, 12-31-2020
(udn.com/news/story/7338/5135316?from=udn_ch2_menu_v2_main_cate)
comments Western media have not seen those dark sides of Taiwan's
"democratic
authoritarianism".
|
pic.
: Taiwan president Tsai I. W. was turning into image of "¥xÆW¥Á¿ï¿Wµô¹õ«á", Yazhou Zhoukan https://www.yzzk.com |
ref.
to Euro. media Chinese edition - DW, https://www.dw.com/zh/½²^¤å变½²¬Ó«Ò亚¬w©P¥Z§å½²^¤å独µô/a-56059525;
|
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¡¹
¡´
Foreign
countries' influence VS.
Taiwan's democracy
¡@
Denmark's Democracy Perception Index 2021 ( DPI ) shows that democracy in Taiwan was threatened by US: 58%, Russia: 20%,China : 65%, Foreign election interference - agree 55%, unfair elections and/or election fraud - Agree 46%. allianceofdemocracies.org/initiatives/the-copenhagen-democracy-summit/dpi-2021/ After the ruling party DPP picked up legislative majorities. Lawmakers changed the law so as to easily recall current mayors or law-makers, which successfully ousted a China-friendly Kaohsiung mayor in June 2020, correspondingly, the opposition KMT recently worked on recalls of pro-independence law-makers antagonistic toward China. In Wall Street Journal at 2022-1-7 (wsj.com/articles/revenge-recalls-spark-debate-in-taiwan-how-much-democracy-is-too-much-11641558601), Lev Nachman at the Harvard thinks Taiwanese politicians should hopefully spend their time on Chinese infiltration and Taiwan preparedness for a potential Chinese invasion; National Chengchi University's Mr. Lin Jia-he (ªL®a©M) said:¡§In Taiwan, opposing recalls means you're against democracy"
¡¹
¡´ CovID-19 vaccines VS. Taiwan's democracy
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CovID-19 vaccines VS. democracy |
|