Opinion on Taiwan politics, war analysis &  comments
 


fights for rights


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    Taiwan, a corrupt country   Taiwan's military,  in infancy stage   Taiwan president shoots in his foot    Taiwan, freedom & democracy?   US skepticism from Taiwan Taiwan leaders - liars same-sex marriage in Taiwan on purpose ? Taiwan president's secret life?   mind control weaponry in Taiwan    China's invasion of Taiwan ♦♦  disinformation, interference from foreign countries    Taiwan - lowest trust rates in the media among democracies

 

Taiwan is ... ?

a country of democracy? Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Director General (2024-10-20, by CNA): "credibility deficit" is "a real Achilles heel of Taiwanese democracy"; Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Only 33 % of respondents said they trusted most news most of the time. 
a country of corruption? The Diplomat  (2024-9-11): Corruption and patronage are “in the DNA” of local politics.  Almost all  [high-level] politicians come from local politics",  "A bottom-up spoils system is thus cultivated"...
 independent judiciary? War On The Rocks (2024-9-20): Washington observers might worry that Taiwan's president Lai is undermining the independence of the judicial system.
a free country? Global Times (2022-12-19) : There are forces on the island of Taiwan are mentally controlling Taiwan people.

OPinion  ♣♣    Taiwan's military   ──   in the stage of infancy  

   

 

Military Structure
 

Financial Times (UK), 2024-7-21: an expert of the Atlantic Council said, “People don't realise the stage of infancy the military is in";"They have to start training them to do very basic things".    the Taiwan military's core problem, is operational-level and tactical-level decision-making", Their structure is very hierarchical, almost Soviet-style.The biggest problem was the general staff's planning process, they need to learn to adapt operational plans to a changing situation in wartime in rapid, live planning cycles.  

 

Taiwan leaders

 

National Interest (2024-7-20) : ...... Taiwan out to be less of a sovereign state in need of help, and more a vassal state to America. it would appear that the main aim of Taiwan's national defense  is to wait for the Americans and their allies to come rolling in ...Taiwanese leaders need to know how unlikely this reality is.

Foreign Policy (10-19-2020) :  Given these electoral realities, Taiwan's leaders have gravitated toward military showpieces—while hoping that the United States will save the day if China ever attacks.

 

Weapons

 

nAssociated Press (2023-10-9) : Some in Congress want to cut Ukraine aid and boost Taiwan's.  But Taiwan sees its fate tied to Kyiv's    New York Times (2023-5-30)  : Taiwan Ambassador Hsiao Bi-Khim (current vice president) rebuted those arguments and says Ukraine's success against Russia will deter China.    "I think pushing back on aggression is the key message that will help to deter any consideration or miscalculation that an invasion can be conducted unpunished, without costs, in a rapid way”.  

Taiwan's former Foreign Minister Joseph Wu ( 吳釗燮, current Secretary General of Taiwan's National Security Council) thinks the same - the world should be “defending Taiwan by defending Ukraine.  He made it clear that linking Taiwan to Ukraine is a priority of Taiwan's government.  

nAmerican Reservative  (2024-7-6) : Wu went further, however, with the unqualified statement that U.S. military support for Ukraine “does not detract from the defense of places such as Taiwan.” Unfortunately, this simply isn't true. 

nElbridge Colby (Washington Examiner, 2023-6-1) said that Hsiao's suggestion that weapons stocks don't matter is particularly ridiculous.  Still, Taiwan definitely needs Stingers, Javelins, and Patriot missiles — and a lot of them. Unfortunately, Stingers don't grow on trees.   "If Taiwan is so blithe about its own defense, why should Americans stick their necks out? How much should Americans be willing to suffer if Taiwan isn't even prepared to advocate for its own defense?  Taiwan's defense is already a tough case. She's making it a lot tougher."

nCFR.org (Council on Foreign Relations, 2024-7-19): Some prominent Republicans, including Vance, have argued that providing military assistance to Ukraine detracts from the ability to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan.
nWashington Examiner (2024-7-19) : Taiwanese leaders have also, if unintentionally, encouraged the United States to prioritize aiding Ukraine over boosting American capabilities in the Indo-Pacific. This, too, is a mistake.   A Sino-American conflict would be the most devastating war in more than half a century, likely leaving many thousands of Americans dead and entailing attacks on the homeland. Americans can't, and shouldn't, be expected to fight and die for a nation that won't protect itself. 

 

The public

 

Some media publicize fake news - most Taiwanese are willing to join the army.

 

nNational Interest, 2023-7-16 :  Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen announced a plan to extend the compulsory conscription program but received backlash from younger Taiwanese.

n Roll Call, 2022-9-28:  Most people do not want to join the military...  general public, especially young parents, those people from 40 to 50 and their children, will fight against that policy...

n Washington Examiner, 2022-9-20: It's one thing to tell a pollster that you're willing to fight and die for your country.  It's a different thing to take painstaking steps to prepare for that eventuality.  And the hard truth is that far too few Taiwanese are currently taking those steps.

n China Times (Taiwan), 2022-9-28: 81.5% of Taiwanese youth oppose lengthening Taiwan's mandatory military service to one year.   World media wrongly report Taiwanese people are willing to be on the battlefield.   chinatimes.com/opinion/20220927005188-262101?chdtv

nFinancial Times, 2022-12-27:  The conscription reform follows years of increasing US pressure on Taiwan to strengthen its defences.   Financial Times (UK), 2021-9-15 : Washington keeps scolding Taipei over its supposed lack of preparation against an ever mightier Beijing. 

 

 

Military capacity - to resist an attack by China

 

nWall Street Journal (2024-7-18): Taiwan would struggle to defend itself alone from an amphibious assault or blockade even with heroic military effort.  

nTaiwan's United Daily (2024-3-14,  udn.com/news/story/6656/7830786?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2): Former minister of Defense Li (李傑) said we can resist 2 weeks to wait the US comes to help;  another former minister Yen (嚴明) said one month, former minister Gao (高華柱) said at least one month,  former chief of the general staff Liu (劉和謙) said two weeks ...

 

nBarron's,  AFP (France),  2024-7-22: Japan has reportedly concluded that a ground landing in Taiwan by Chinese troops would now be "possible in less than a week" instead of the previous estimate of a month.    NBC News (2024-5-28): expert says the Chinese military could seize Taiwan's government buildings in under an hour   nbcnews.com/now/video/expert-says-the-chinese-military-could-seize-taiwan-s-government-buildings-in-under-an-hour-211721797548

 

nShould the US will come to rescue, how long does it take ?  RAND ( Jun. 2023) (rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1658-1.html)  :   Taiwan's capacity to resist an attack by China for 90 days—the amount of time plausibly required for the United States to marshal sufficient forces to carry out an intervention in East Asia.

 

Military budget

 

nJapan's Kyodo News (2023-7-28):   The military balance between China and Taiwan is "rapidly tilting to China's favor," and the gap appears to be growing year by year."

Semafor (2024-7-19) :  Elbridge Colby has suggested the island spend between 5% and 10% of its GDP on defense.

nTaiwan's current budget -  2.5% of its GDP .   A member of KMT lawmaker Ko said "at least 5% of its GDP on defense" would likely be impossible to achieve. 

nNew York Post (2024-7-22): Taiwan reacts to Trump's they "should pay us for defense" comments -  Reactions were mixed - some expressing varying degrees of agreement and others pointing out that Taiwan is still waiting for some $19 billion worth of already-purchased American weapons

 

nSCMP (2024-7-21): Under the previous Trump administration, US arms sales to Taiwan reached a record high of US$18.3 billion over four years, compared to the US$6.3 billion so far during the presidency of Joe Biden.  However, Associated Press (2023-10-9):  as much as $19 billion worth of weapons sold to Taiwan have been delayed.  (They have not come till present Jul. 25, 2024 )

 

nIndependent (UK, 2024-7-21):  there are no legal guarantees that a new resident of the White House couldn't cancel these transfers by executive order, if they deemed it to be in the US's interests.   Asia Times (2023-1-7):  NDAA ─  Typical of Washington chicanery, Taipei pays first for a possible future delivery of advanced weapons. Based on past records, Taipei holding an empty bag is not beyond the realm.  asiatimes.com/2023/01/2023-bodes-poorly-for-us-international-relations/   Fox News (2024-7-22), Cato Institute: According to the Cato Institute, Taiwan on average waits longer than other nations for the delivery of weapons, especially HIMARS, newly built F-16s, and Abrams tanks.  


 

 

************ ENDING  ***************

 

The US sold F35 and JASSM etc to Japan, however, The Hill (2022-11-29):  American administrations consistently have refused to sell Taiwan advanced fighter aircraft, diesel submarines and other weapons systems that could threaten Chinese assets and potentially deter Beijing from initiating a conflict.

 

Bloomberg (2024-7-22): Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te urges DPP (the ruling party) to protect Taiwan sovereignty.  However,  National Interest (2024-7-20) : ...  Taiwan out to be less of a sovereign state in need of help, and more a vassal state to America.   Eurasian Times  (7-9-2020) : The (Taiwan) authority turns to Washington and is willing to be used.  Taiwan now under "Deep Control" of the US.   

 

Focus Taiwan (2024-2-23): More than 80 percent of Taiwanese people want to maintain the status quo with China.  But things may change.  Brookings (1-22-2021):  Only 23% (Taiwanese) thought that democracy was more important than economic development.  16% believed that protecting political freedom was more important than reducing economic inequality

2024-7-25   

 

 

 

OPinion  Taiwan, a corrupt country.   

"cleaning house " or   anti-corruption crackdown ?     

 

 

 
War On The Rocks (2024-9-20): Washington is quietly watching how Taiwan's new president Lai consolidates power, using the court to prosecute former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan over corruption allegations.  Cheng's arrest reflects an intra-party political struggle between a pair of long-time rivals.  The arrest and detention of Taiwan People's Party chairman and former Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je on corruption charges, as well as a number of corruption cases involving Kuomintang (KMT) officials have Lai's critics protesting that he is using the judiciary to persecute rivals.  Washington observers might worry that Lai is undermining the independence of the judicial system...

Targeting selected individual or group is tantamount to a persecution.  Lai should promote judicial reform, as well as crackdown corruption, particularly corrupt DPP.

 

 

Financial Times (2024-9-6):  Prosecutors' swift moves against Cheng Wen-tsan and Ko have prompted Taiwanese commentators to question whether Lai was “cleaning house” of political rivals or pushing an anti-corruption crackdown to win back public support , and at the same time divert attention from the current chaos in domestic politics.    Investigators in Taiwan have detained former presidential candidate Ko Wen-je, the second prominent politician to be hit with a corruption probe since President Lai Ching-te took office in May.

"Coincidently", both chair of TPP, Ko Wei-je and Cheng Wen-tsan (former vice premier)  are chair of DPP Lai Ching-te's political reval or political enemy.   (Council on Foreign relations, 2024-9-5: Ko was widely seen as having outperformed expectations and as someone who would again run for president. Independent UK, 2024-7-12: Mr Cheng was seen as a potential presidential contender Nikkei Asian Review (Japan, 2024-9-5): expert warned that the DPP will go after the KMT (No.1 opposition party) once the threat posed by Ko is removed. "Ko is just the appetizer in the mouth of the DPP gluttons.

 

Only these two top politicians have "palm grease" problem ? 

Certainly not !


Taiwan is a corrupt country.   

 

  1.  Ruling party   
Washington Post (2024-5-20):  The ruling party (DPP)
 has faced corruption scandals.  
Washington Post (2023-11-24): 
Public grievances against the ruling party have bubbled up during Tsai's presidency, which has been hit by corruption scandals...   
New York Times (2024-1-10): 
the frustration voters feel about out-of-control Taiwan ... government corruption. 
According to Transparency International, Germany - Global Corruption Barometer, released in 2022, 90% Taiwanese think government  corruption  is a big problem, this percentage is higher than that in Japan, S. Korea, China and Malaysia.
Financial Times (UK, 2024-9-6): Taiwan slid last year in Transparency International's global corruption perceptions index, and its score dropped slightly for the first time since Lai's DPP predecessor Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.  Opposition accusations of DPP officials abusing their positions and engaging in corruption contributed to Lai receiving the lowest winning vote share in 24 years in a three-way presidential race.
The China Times (Taiwan, 2023-6-26): The ruling party, DPP's corruption was structural, collective and overall (結構性、集體性、全面性貪腐) ;  a bunch of vote-brokers, officials, law makers get involved; DPP's corruption has already crossed the bottom line, and is out of control.

United Daily (Taiwan, 2023-6-26): DPP got involved in many cases such as 光電案、超思進口雞蛋案、小吃店採購快篩案、疫苗案、口罩案...  but the prosecutors has not done anything to them.  Selective handling of cases by double standards, is nothing but political persecution (政治追殺)

 

  2.  Local politicians and high-level politicians 

Diplomat  (2024-9-11): The allegations against the former presidential candidate raise questions about pervasive corruption at all levels of government Corruption and patronage, are “in the DNA” of local politics.  “All the money laundering and things like that can be done by these local officials for their big brothers (legislators) in the legislature” , “Because the local politicians don’t need to make their wealth public.”  Almost all  [high-level] politicians come from local politics, A bottom-up spoils system is thus cultivated"...
After Cheng Wen-tsan (Bloomberg, 2024-7-12: the highest-profile graft probe in the democratically run archipelago since President Chen Shui-bian in 2008. ) was detained,  DPP's factions except Lai's faction  and KMT, TPP should be scary,  according to United Daily (Taiwan, 2024-7-10).

 

  3.  Taiwan military

Economist (UK, 2022-8-2): Taiwan needs to do more to combat corruption and waste in its armed forces) 
Axios (2022-6-28):  Scandals and corruption have plagued the Taiwanese armed forces  axios.com/2022/06/28/taiwan-military-defense-weapons-china-invasion-threat

 

  4.  Taiwan judiciary

TaiwanPlus (2023-3-6): a majority said they believed prosecutors engage in corruption behaviour when handling cases.   msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/taiwan-poll-finds-widespread-public-mistrust-of-prosecutors-taiwanplus-news/vi-AA18glWE    
 
Transparency International (Germany) - Global Corruption Barometer released in 2022: The percentage of judges, magis-trates corruption is higher than that in China and Japan.

  5.  Taiwan police

 According to Transparency International, Germany - Global Corruption Barometer, released in 2022, the percentage of Taiwanese paying a bribe to police, 67%, is far higher than  China (18%)Japan (10%) S. korea (8%).

 

Why does the prosecution select Ko Wen-je ?? 

 

Asia Times  (2024-8-23) article "Taiwan's Lai Ching-te consolidating power " already concluded that Cheng's arrest is reflective of an intense intra-DPP political struggle between a pair of long-time rivals.  A tense personal history has pushed Lai Ching-te to “punish” Cheng Wen-tsan after gaining power.  asiatimes.com/2024/08/taiwans-lai-consolidating-power-before-turning-to-china/   Besides, Cheng is widely believed guilty.
But Ko is different
(till present 2024-9-18).   Who will have advantage or benefit if Ko goes to jail?

 

  1.  Presidential election rival

 

Council on Foreign relations (2024-9-5): Although Ko lost the 2024 presidential election, he was widely seen as having outperformed expectations and as someone who would again run for president.  Al Jazeera  (2024-9-2):   Ko is widely seen as a contender for the next election in 2028.    SCMP (2024-9-7): “If Ko is found guilty of corruption, it is foreseeable that Ko will have little chance of making a political comeback.”.

 

  2.  Power balance

 

US News & World Report  (2024-9-1), Reuters (2024-9-2): The TPP has only eight lawmakers in Taiwan's 113-seat parliament but has an outsized role as neither the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nor the largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), has a majority.  Council on Foreign relations (2024-9-5): TPP controls the balance of power. As scrutiny of Ko and the TPP intensify, dynamics in the legislature could shift, with implications for President Lai Ching-te's agenda.   TPP has aligned with the KMT, pushing through a controversial plan to expand the legislature's powers and questioning Lai's proposed policies, including his plan to build additional submarines.  
Asia Nikkei (Japan, 2024-9-5):
The TPP's woes come as its coalition with the KMT is locked in a showdown with the DPP.  The opposition has sought to clip the wings of Lai's government, threatening to vote down budgets and public appointments  Asia Nikkei (Japan, 2024-9-11): The TPP and its larger opposition partner, KMT, have been a thorn in the side of the pro-sovereignty Lai's fledgling administration.

Expert says the TPP is essentially a "one-man party" built on Ko's charisma.  This might be a reason the prosecution selects Ko.

 

  3.  Law-makers
Council on Foreign relations (2024-9-5):
 if these TPP legislators conclude that the TPP's days are numbered, they may become free agents open to working with the DPP.

SCMP (2024-9-7): "If Ko does fall from grace and his party loses support, it could struggle to retain its 5 per cent of the vote for seats in Taiwan's legislature in the 2028 elections", “If it fails to cross the 3 per cent threshold, the TPP could fizzle out like the New Power Party”.

 

  4.  Young Taiwanese

Council on Foreign relations (2024-9-5): As a presidential candidate, Ko built a base among energized young Taiwanese, receiving 3.69 million votes (26.5 percent ).  In previous two presidential elections, young Taiwanese were DPP's base.

 

  5.  China factor

Nikkei Asian Review (Japan, 2024-9-11): Beijing wades into Taipei drama over corruption probe against TPP leader and has accused Taiwan's president of persecuting Beijing-leaning revals...  'Since Lai Ching-te admin came to power, it has repeatedly manipulated judicial and administrative means, used public weapons for private purposes, opposed party members and dissenters, and created "green terror" on the island', Chinese gov. said.

 

Political persecution ? 

 

At 2024-9-2 , Ko Wen-je told Taiwan's media that he experienced "extreme oppression, mistreatment & abuses" (「極盡壓迫跟凌虐」) by prosecutors during two days' detention...   udn.com/news/story/124199/8200282?from=udn_ch2cate6638sub124199_pulldownmenu_v2 The Diplomat, 2024-9-3: The TPP increasingly began leaning into the narrative that Ko's arrest was a form of political persecution...

 

  1.  Scary political struggle

Dr. Shelley Rigger, scholar of Davidson College said: "(political struggles in Taiwan is) frightening to me".   chinatimes.com/opinion/20240913004217-262101?chdtv

The China Times (2024-9-13) comments that the prosecution detained the chair of the 2nd largest opposition party without any solid evidence, obviously...   The China Times (2024-9-14): Despite of no evidence, the prosecutors wrote detention document Ko Wen-je violated Anti-Corruption Act - Article 4 (Demanding, taking or promising to take bribes or other unlawful profits by the acts that violate the official duties...... "第4條「違背職務受賄」" )  chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20240914

 

  2.  Shame parade thru. streets

United Daily (Taiwan, 2024-9-13): Taiwan's top professor says that the way media report Ko is like  "Shame parades through the streets",  dusty old political theatrics that communist Chinese Red Guards used during the Cultural Revolution, 1966 ~  (變成對待政敵的紅衛兵式的鬥爭,如同遊街公審).

  3.  To obtain confession by detention

United Daily (2024-9-13): While supporting former president Chen Shui-bian a few years ago, Lai Ching-te said that obtaining confessions by detention is human rights abuses and violating "procedural justice"; but now different standard is applied for Ko Wen-je?

udn.com/news/story/124199/8225042?from=udn_ch2cate6638sub124199_pulldownmenu_v2
(賴清德總統以前聲援前總統陳水扁時曾說押人取供違反程序正義、踐踏人權,如今同一套標準,怎對柯文哲不一樣?)
The purpose of detention is to preserve evidence, not to detain people to obtain confessions.

 

  4 Human rights issue
Asia Nikkei (Japan, 2024-9-5): Ko said his meals consisted of two pieces of bread and a drink. "For three days, I had to sleep on the floor, and there was no shower or bed available. The lights were never turned off so the detainee will quickly lose the sense of time," he said. "Those who haven't been convicted, and are merely in remand, should not be treated in such a manner. This is inconsistent with human rights."

 

 


 

 

Persecutions or human rights abuse is worse than bribery.  President Lai Ching-te said he is against political persecution before taking the power earlier this year, but now, are those persecution archives in recent 30-40 years declassified ?

2024-9-18

 

 

 

 

 

OPinion  ♣♣    Taiwan's president shoots in his foot ?!  

   

 Lai Ching-te repeatedly boasted that Taiwan has power/strength to confront China;  Taiwan at least twice boasted it will shoot Chinese PLA if entering our territory water or air ...

 


Taiwan's TV 關鍵時刻 (Jun. 2024) : Biden greenlights sending troops, emboldening Taiwan would shoot China's PLA within 12 nautical miles of Taiwan's territory
TV host and commentator
Liu Pao-chieh was just be imposed sanctions by China in May

 

Taipei Times (2023-3-7) : Minister of National Defense said "We would be forced to respond should Chinese military vessels and aircraft come near or enter the nation's airspace and territorial waters...

One year later, China did enter 12 nautical miles of Taiwan territory, according to CNBC (2024-5-24), China Times (2024-5-24), and Global Times (2024-5-23).  Taiwan's military shot nothing.
 

 

(Taipei Times, 2024-6-7, taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2024/06/07/2003818990  ;  美洲台灣日報(2024-6-7) 香港明報  HK01(2024-6-6), 自由時報(2024-6-12), etc ).

 

About two weeks later, Chinese came as close as 5 nautical miles, which was the closest approach in history (China's Global Times , 2024-6-26).   Institute for the study of War  (the US, 2024-6-27) reported similar thing.    Again, Taiwan's military shot nothing, and turned around in response to China's warnings.

 

Tough stance is usually used for deterrence.   New Yorker  (2024-6-24 ~ 7-1) : “But what if deterrence failed?” 
Taiwan exchanged its toughness for China's greater toughness.

 

 Too many fake news or misleading news in Taiwan's media is another issue.  Taiwanese commentators (on TV "Taiwan Critical Time" youtube.com/live/ecNxnat8s-Q?app=desktop youtube.com/watch?v=JPH-L5-HPY4) said that Biden greenlights sending troops, therefore Taiwan's "first strike" rule changes - Taiwan would shoot them if Chinese are within 12 nautical miles....

 

However, Washington Examiner (2024-3-22):  China is preparing for invasion ... and President  Joe Biden  is not prepared.   The Hill (2024-6-4):  President Biden, still  fearful of escalation  to "World War III".    Fox News (2024-5-31):  criticism targets Biden for his lack of  'moral clarity' on Taiwan.     The Australian (2024-6-4): 'It depends'  -  Biden wavers on Taiwan defence.    Foreign Affairs (2024-7-2) wrote Taiwan wants the United States to step up its efforts to counter Chinese aggression and coercion,  but the Biden administration has not done so ... partly because the United States cannot take responsibility for dealing with the daily provocations that any U.S. ally or partner faces from China.

 

In other words, Taiwan's leaders lack of good analysis the situation or lack of good communication with the US.

 

According to National Interest (2024-7-13), Taiwan needed to find a steady path, avoiding both complacency and hysteria.” That complacency results from the widely-held  belief  that the US would come to their rescue;  That hysteria results, certainly,  from the US did not come to rescue.

 

The Atlantic Council (2024-6-27): Ukraine...can resist forced annexation with sufficient bravery, preparation, and will.  The Taiwanese ask themselves, “Are we made of the same stuff ? ”

 

NPR (2024-7-2) : in apparent retaliation, China's Coast Guard has been patrolling within the restricted waters...  has not happened in the last 30 years.

 

Are there more retaliations ahead ?

 

China's Global Times (2024-7-4):  if Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities continue to seek "Taiwan independence," the scope of embodied jurisdiction will only be closer to the island of Taiwan, and this trend is fully visible.   GT (2024-5-13): patrol model can be applied to entire Taiwan Straits.
2024-7-4, updated 7-15

 

 

Defense One (2024-6-28): War with China not inevitable, Taiwan government officials say

 

 

 

 

OPinion  ♣♣    Hong Kong (China) VS. Taiwan    in    Political cartoons   

   

     

 

 

Zola Zu's article about freedom in Taiwan and HK was printed in FECO NEWS (Europe, April 2024) distributed to 40+ countries
brief version as below

 

Taiwan needs to declassify all political archives, particularly persecution records in recent 40 years.
Some top politicians continue to ignore this issue, some top politicians prefer to
declassify old political archives about 70 years ago -  it means much less because the prime suspects in White Terror era were dead already. 
Some top officials may be suspected to harbor criminals or even flee from justice. 

 

A picture says more and louder than thousand words

 

According to <Asian Political Cartoons> book (by Dr. John Lent, University press of Mississippi, 2023),  "if you offend any one of them (Taiwan's politicians), you are sent to court.  Artists only know art, and to be sent to court is unfathomable and a headache for them".  

Taiwan needs to declassify all political archives to find out if the consequence of offending politicians is only a "headache". ps1

Compare Taiwan with Hong Kong.

In 
protests from 2003 to 2020 ps2, Hong Kongers have created tens of thousands of political cartoons/design works ps3  for propaganda, communication, mobilization, and drawing international attentions.   Parts of Hong Kong including bus stations became a gallery.   Fortunately, there's no any editorial cartoonists being sued or imprisoned. 

At that time the HK gov. learned they need to “fill loopholes” in their laws to root out "seeds of unrest" and  "hostile forces lurking in society”.  New York Times and CNN (2024-1-30) reported that HK officials claimed “ the CIA and British intel. have publicly stated that they'll do a lot of work to target China and HK”.

After protests, some cartoon columns ended.  Cartoonist Justin Wong, a scholar at HK Baptist Univ., chose to leave HK after hearing that the school allegedly contacted the police for his works about the protests.  Radio Free Asia (2023-5-11) quoted some comments saying that the public opinion environment in HK is worse than that in mainland China.

In 2023, top cartoonist Zunzi's column in Ming Pao news, which accompanied Hong Kongers for 40 years, was suddenly discontinued.  Zunzi told AFP that it's due to "political pressure" triggered by his latest cartoon. 
Zunzi's cartoons have already caused controversies over the years (even banned by Singapore in 1998).    RFA believes that the cartoon criticizing the district-council reform was the straw that broke the camel's backps4

That cartoon was :  Anyone no matter how low his grades in Math, English, Chinese examinations are, and no matter if he is obese or skinnyor with color blindness,  high myopia, high cholesterol or heart disease,  still can be a member of  Fight-Crime Committee ..., as long as the high-ranking official thinks he is the right one.
 
Hong Kong gov. said this cartoon ignores the fact,  and contains insult & discrimination meanings Takungpao News: defamation "is considered a criminal offence",  they also criticized Zunzi can not create gag cartoons, his works need words to convey messages,  therefore difficult to agree his artistic value.

Professor John Lent hopes Zunzi can get a reprieve.  Thankfully, Zunzi has not been prosecuted several months after that event.   However, all of his cartoons were moved out of public libraries    ──     Hitler's autobiography < Mein Kampf>  is still on the book-shelf.   
 

N.Y. Times (2021-7-23): "Even with the security law in place, political cartoons and protest artwork have continued to thrive on the margins in Hong Kong, but that could soon change".   <Asian Political Cartoons> (2023): "Not many Taiwanese young people draw political cartoons, because now there's a plethora of political parties... ".

An art article in the New York Times (2023-10-11) says this might be the least culturally innovative century in the past 500 years.   In Hong Kong and Taiwan, innovation and ambition could be even less, for more reasons.

 

 

PS1:  Taiwanese people suffered electromagnetic wave attacks and mentally controls. 
e.g., NEWS Australia, Dec. 2,2011,  French AFP , Dec. 1, 2011 , Thailand's Bangkok Post,  Dec. 3, 2011, Yahoo UK & Ireland, etc reported that NTU professor Lin Ruey-Shiungwas subject to electromagnetic wave attacks (supposed by Taiwan Intel.).  
Global Times (2022-12-19) : There are forces on the island of Taiwan are mentally controlling Taiwan people.

 

 

PS2:  From Hong Kong's 1-July-protests in 2003 (Hong Kong 1 July marches - Wikipedia), the Umbrella Movement in 2014 (2014 Hong Kong protests - Wikipedia),  then to the Hong Kong anti-extradition bill (movement against the extradition bill amendment bill  2019–2020 Hong Kong protests - Wikipedia) .

PS3:  https://creative-comic.tw/zh/special_topics/19    2020-8-20 

PS4:  BBC (2023-7-10) reported that Zunzi's cartoons have already caused controversies over the years.  RFI (2023-5-11) reported: In the past six months, many departments of the Hong Kong government, including Hong Kong Police ForceLabour and Welfare BureauCulture, Sports and Tourism Bureau Security Bureau and No.2 powerful person, the Chief Secretary for Administration, have criticized Zunzi.

PS5:  

CNN  edition.cnn.com/2024/01/30/asia/hong-kong-security-law-article-23-consultation-intl-hnk/index.html

New York Times   2024-1-30  nytimes.com/2024/01/30/world/asia/hong-kong-security-law-unrest.html

BBC   bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-65554858

BBC   bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-65559578

tkww.hk/a/202305/11/AP645c905ee4b0c614abacce82.html

rfa.org/cantonese/news/htm/hk-comic-05192023061105.html

epochtimes.com/gb/23/6/5/n14010220.htm

.rfi.fr/tw/中國/20230511-港官批評後-著名政治漫畫家尊子遭-明報-停掉專欄-評論指港府胸襟不符國際都會要求

DW  2023-5-14  .dw.com/zh/告別明報40年政治漫畫-尊子希望就在轉角位/a-65613713

 

 

 
PS 6 :  Unlike political or editorial cartoons, pictures on children's book got some trouble.  Ref to Washington Post, 2022-9-7, New York Times 2021-7-23, New York Times 2020-12-30,  
Hong Kong Free Press 2021-07-22,  Hong Kong Police arrested group-leaders behind a children's picture book which featured 12 sheeps captured were sent to wolves village for eating (
「送去狼村落度畀狼開餐啊!」) , another sheep called them "12 brave warriors" , in apparent reference to the 12 Hong Kong activists arrested by Chinese authorities as they tried to flee to Taiwan.   The HK police accused that children book publishers of instilling impressionable children with anti-government hatred and incite violent and criminal behavior. 
 

 

 Taiwan, a country of freedom of expression ?

  China Times (中國時報) , 2024-4-7: William Lai (Lai Ching-te, Taiwan president from May 2024) intimidates Taiwanese people into restricting freedom of speech, and shapes those speech criticizing the government into engaging in cognitive warfare...  Any message or speech that is unfavorable to the government, advantageous for the hostile will be regarded as  "collaborator"  engaging in the cognitive warfare and will be smeared and discredited (任何訊息、言論只要對政府不利,對敵對者有利,就會被視為是認知作戰的「在地協力者」,遭到抹紅、抹黑)  chinatimes.com/opinion/20240407002778-262101?chdtv 

 

 United Daily (聯合報) , 2024-3-17, China Times (中國時報) , 2024-3-12 The minister of National Defense defines "(China's) local cooperator" as whoever speaks to our disadvantage and in the opposite side's favor  (「任何訊息、言論對我不利,對對方有利,初步就認為是在地協力者」chinatimes.com/opinion/20240312004516-262101?chdtv), according to our initial judgment  ... the prosecution/police and investigation will eventually determine whether or not the suspect is a "local cooperator", which scares the public as long as the state apparatus getting involved and the selected citizens going through a long time legal process.  Only the good news rather than the bad is exactly what the ruler expect - a chilling effect.  (只要啟動檢調警國家機器,就足以收震懾威嚇之效;再經司法程序一路折騰,即使還其清白,也已被剥掉幾層皮。只准報喜不許唱憂,正是統治者要的寒蟬效應!) udn.com/news/story/7338/7836324?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2   


  Taiwan's judicial reform fails.     TIME, 2023-11-20:  the government's judicial reform website hasn't been updated since 2020. “Does that mean the government didn't do anything or just doesn't care about this topic?”   Taiwan Plus, 2023-3-6:  Taiwan Poll finds widespread public mistrust of prosecutors /  A poll has found that 85% of people in Taiwan think public prosecutors can be subject to political influence.  More than half responded they were unsatisfied with recent judicial reforms, and a majority said they believed prosecutors engage in corruption behaviour when handling cases.  msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/taiwan-poll-finds-widespread-public-mistrust-of-prosecutors-taiwanplus-news/vi-AA18glWE

 

   Taiwan, a country of democracy ?
  Country Reports on Human Rights practices, 2024-4-22:  In the most recent presidential and legislative elections,  there were allegations of vote buying by candidates and supporters of both major political parties  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

   Heritage Foundation,  2024-4-15  :  none of presidential candidates dared expound on his own policy,  they purposely conceal their policies in favor of carefully stage-managed events and vague campaign slogans. Even televised debates...
  Denmark's Democracy Perception Index 2021 ( DPI ) shows that democracy in Taiwan was threatened by US: 58%, China : 65%.
  
In key moments, Taiwan's KMT vice presidential candidate and former president urged by slip of tongues voters to support DPP's presidential candidate.    The Atlantic Council (2023-12-19): ... it may mean is that the DPP is prioritizing a safer ride to the presidency over retaining a legislative majority.   Eventually, DPP won presidency, KMT won a legislative majority, quite coincidently.

 

 

 

 

OPinion  ♣♣      mind control weaponry in Taiwan        

 

  (1) Is Taiwan government a prime criminal ?   they refuse to open classified documents concerning persecution after 1984.
 

Why do those political persecution cases never come to light ?

Star War

 

n EuroView.ecct  (2023-10-20):  Taiwan's cabinet is proposing amendments to the Political Archives Act and the Classified National Security Information Protection Act to allow political archives from Taiwan's authoritarian past to be made public ... half of political archives classified as permanently confidential under the current law could be declassified next year if the amendments pass.   

  half of political files (of the Martial Law era.) before 1984 may shed light on only some events
(1) 
  The problem is those persecution cases after 1984 still will be buried.  Why don't they open all the files?   ──    Are those politicians trying to save their own skins ?  
(2)
   Those prime suspects persecuting Taiwanese before 1984 are dead already,  most likely

 

 

Today's secret police are still doing bad things  ──  Taiwan's United Daily, editorial, 2023-12-13: The government trying to evade or refuse oversight or supervision by using the name "classified document" has already been a normal since long time ago ("政府利用「機密文件」規避監督,早已是常態" udn.com/news/story/7338/7636736?from=udn-catebreaknews_ch2 ).   Taiwan's United Daily, editorial, 2023-12-11 also reported that foreign diplomats from Japan, Canada, S. korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Denmark, etc and/or their offices in Taiwan were suspected to be bugged by the national security. (udn.com/news/story/7338/7631855?from=udn_ch2_menu_v2_main_cate)

 

 

Taiwan's "Black box"    ──   
Global Times (2022-12-19) : There are forces on the island of Taiwan who are mentally controlling the Taiwan people.  

Taiwan has not rebutted its "sworm enemy's" allegation for one year till present, which is nothing other than giving a tacit consent to it.

 

 

surveillance in the U.S. and Europe

 

Freedom House (2019)  : At the very least, social media surveillance must come under greater oversight.  The use of such programs must be transparent... The survival of democracy requires vibrant public spaces, both offline and online, where individuals can... without fear of constant surveillance.

Washington DC based Epic.org: The unchecked expansion of surveillance systems is one of the greatest threats to privacy and civil liberties.  Abuses of surveillance technology are not only unjust, they're dangerous.

 

The concerns in the US or Europe are basically about people’s emails, online chats, internet browsing histories, and information about social media activity or  face analysis  in public spaces, etc

 

 

As for mind control, and electromagnetic attacks the civilians in Taiwan, those are not only violation of Privacy Act (Taiwan does not have a Privacy Act ), but also committing serious crimes.

 

Oversight in the U.S. and Europe

 

In the US, PRISM receives independent oversight from the federal Gov. executive, judicial and legislatives branches. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM)
In
EU Member States, they increased the number of oversight bodies to monitor the work of intelligence services
 

 

Can Taiwan do as the US and Euro do ?


Each time Taiwan's Intel. or dark forces use any of high-tech. weapons (e.g.,
electromagnetic attacks, mind controlling, etc) to harm or repress or abuse some of Taiwanese people,  will they record their operation on files ?  Taiwan needs a mechanism for great oversight and legal actions in the future.

 

There's no reason the truth of those political cases can't be exposed.       According to 《國家機密保護法》(National Secrets Protection Law), in no case shall information be classified in order to conceal violations of law or administrative error;  Taiwan's president or National Security Council etc who authorized the original classification are entitled to place order to declassify those secret files.  
Taiwan president(s) seem - refuse to bring to light    or intend to cover up the ugly truth.

 

 

  (2) Is the U.S. an accomplice

 

Mind-control issues coming to light ?


BBC, 2021-9-9: The brain is being seen as the 21st Century battle-scape.   Reports say from the 1990s, the US Air Force had a project codenamed "Hello" to see if microwaves could create disturbing sounds in people's heads, one called "Goodbye" to test their use for crowd control.

 

New York Times, 2018-9-1 (brief): To turn microwave radiation into covert weapons of mind control...   More recently, the American military itself sought to develop microwave arms that could invisibly beam painfully loud booms and even spoken words into people's heads...  microwaves can trick the brain into perceiving what seem to be ordinary sounds.  The dimensions of the human head, scientists say, make it a fairly good antenna for picking up microwave signals.  In Albuquerque, N.M., Air Force scientists sought to beam comprehensible speech into the heads of adversaries. Their novel approach won a patent in 2002.

 

New York Post, 2021-12-31: China is developing terrifying brain control weapons capable of ‘paralyzing enemies’, according to the Washington Times...   China is trying to obtain American technology to takeover key sectors including biotech.

 

Renmin University professor of international relations Jin Canrong (中國人民大學教授金燦榮) said,  per The Times   of London: those Indian soldiers occupying the hilltops all began to vomit, they couldn't stand up, so they fled. This was how we retook the ground.    Washington Examiner 2020-11-17: India rejects claim of Chinese microwave weapon attack.

 

From reports above, it's within reason to say that Taiwan's mental-control weapons were imported from the US.   However, it's unknown whether or not the US gave their official permission for Taiwan's secret police to use any of high-tech weapons from the US on Taiwanese people.  

 

CarnegieEndowment.org (2021-05-12) :  a growing number of voters support initiatives to restrict U.S. aid to Israel due to its human rights violations...   the administration should enforce existing laws that prohibit the use of U.S. security assistance for illegitimate purposes.   All countries receiving U.S. aid must meet human rights standards, and countries violating these standards are liable to be sanctioned and ineligible for U.S. funding.   The United States does have obligations under both federal and international law to ensure that it is not furthering human rights abuses.  

 

If not restricting and stopping Taiwan's human rights abuses by using American high-tech weapons, the US might be an accomplice in the case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPinion  ♣♣      Women rights + human rights  <  LGBT rights ?

 

A lot of western media reported or complimented Taiwan on becoming the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.   But, is it within reason to be so passionate about LGBT rights, on the other hand, to give cold shoulder to Taiwanese women rights and human rights  ?

 

  ♣ 1. Women rights in Taiwan

 

n New York Times, 2023-6-25: A torrent of sexual harassment accusations has prompted questions about the state of women's rights on an island democracy

 

nSCMP, 2023-6-11:  NTU professor Tso Chen-dong says the DPP has greatly disappointed the public as ... referring to the party's pledges to promote gender equality and human rights.  DPP had long focused on LGBTQ equality, rather than women's rights.
nAFP, 2023-7-7:  the crescendoing wave of #MeToo cases shows gender inequality remains a deep-seated problem, rooted in a culture prone to victim-blaming.  "Sexual violence -- from domestic violence to sexual harassment -- is more common than people think.
n<