Just now reading some of the posts in detail, and the point raised below is a quarter-truth at best:
[quote=“brianlkennedy”]Chens solution is to distract the local electorate with some smoke and mirrors about Peoples Democracy and Referendums. The whole thing is a crack up because:
a.the right to referendums has been in the ROC Constitution since about 1920
[/quote]
I’m sure that as a lawyer you’re well aware that the Constitution declares fundamental but vague principles that need to be fleshed out via laws and statutes before they can be implemented. And that is what just occurred.
In the 80+ years since the adoption of the ROC Constitution, there has never been a referendum, and not surprisingly, no push for a Referendum Law.
It was in fact the KMT that argued strenously that holding a referendum without passing a Referendum Law first would be “illegal” and any results would be non-binding.
Actually my statement is not a half truth or a quarter truth; it is 100% accurate. You want chapter and verse it is (from the official english version of the Constitution)
Article 17. The people shall have the right of election, recall, initiative and referendum.
The Referendum Law (the one version I bothered to glance at) limits, trivializes, and otherwise abuses what is a straightforward constitutional provision. Now I am well aware of what you are saying about the need for a set of referendum procedures and a statutory basis for those procedures.
But I stand behind what I told my brother; the Grand Referendum Plan is a bunch of DPP bullsh*t to cover the fact they are nothing more than a slightly less intelligent version of the KMT and it is simply a play to the lowest, loudest, most irresponsible segment of Taiwanese society.
The image I have in my mind of who the DPP is trying to woo with this nonsense is the dingbat betelnut chewing cabbies; the nitwits I see marching around in their peasant farmer hats and banners screeching mindless slogans in Taiwanese and…the overseas Taiwanese who have plenty of money to give the DPP, live in the safety of California and know nothing about the realities of modern day life in Taiwan.
Happy Taiwan Holidays,
Brian The People’s Democrat
Not true anymore about the PLA airforce and navy. In the past 5-6 years, they have acquired technical superiority in both areas. The PLA airforce now has the Su-27 and Su-30 fighters, both of which are unmatcheable by Taiwan . While they only have limited numbers of these planes, they have such massive numbers of older aircraft (mostly suped up versions of the MiG-21) that the Taiwanese couldn’t keep up. As far as the navy goes, Taiwan still hasn’t received the Kidd-class destroyers or submarines yet. China, on the other hand, recently acquired to Sovremmeny-class destroyers from Russia, both of which are very advanced ships with “Aegis killer” surface-to-surface missles. The Chinese Luhai-class destroyer is also unmatched by Taiwan’s navy. Taiwan’s best ships are the Perry-class frigates which are already quite dated despite several upgrades. With the acquisition of four Kilo-class submarines from Russia, China also has the advantage in submarines. The rest of their sub fleet is obsolete, but the numbers still make them dangerous. Taiwan, however, only has two ageing Dutch Zwaardis-class submarines, and I think one WW2 vintage Guppy-class that is still in service.
Anyway, there is always talk about Taiwan still having the “technical advantage” over the PLA, but I just don’t see it based on their equipment, particularly what has been acquired (or not acquired in the case of Taiwan) in the past 5 years or so. However, with this being said, if there is a war I don’t think that the aforementioned weapons systems will be used much. The Chinese will blockade Taiwan, cut power lines, and launch a few missles to scare the Taiwanese into submission.
Hold on. The law that was passed was the one watered-down by the KMT (Kill More Taiwanese). Yes, it makes a mockery of referendums, but it was the governor that the KMT put on the legislation to take the teeth out of it. This is why the DPP government asked to have it reconsidered (equivalent to a veto), which was overruled by the KMT-controled Legislative Yuan.
Looking at it, this was the only subject that President Chen could have used to call any referendum – the president can call for a referendum only on national issues if there is external threat.
Taiwan is like the Titanic… everybody is up on deck, waiting to get in the boat out of here, still claiming what a great ship she is
How many Taiwanese would snap up a passport if you waved it in front of them?
Another reason I think pollution and other things are slow to be fixed here as alot of people have one eye on Taiwan and another on the USA
yeah i gotta side with hexuan too…most of the taiwanese americans got out cos they had the money to do so…it takes guts to hang around a la peng ming ming et al. and while the taiwanese americans have done a good job supporting the cause from afar at the end of the day they took the soft option and shouldn’t be allowed to show up now and claim to have any voice in taiwans future…you can’t have your cake and eat it people
) to be uniformly apolitical.