Kharis Templeman

Taiwan after the great recalls: Toward a new political equilibrium? | Brookings After the recall vote, Taiwan’s political combatants now have an opportunity for a political reset. Let us hope that they seize it.

Brookings just published my analysis of Taiwan politics after the first wave of recalls. The main point: the recalls have resolved some remaining political uncertainty, & all 3 political parties have some incentives to tack towards the middle.

www.brookings.edu/articles/tai...

A poster for The Mummy's Ghost.

81 years ago:
The Mummy's Ghost (US)
An Egyptian high priest travels to America to reclaim the bodies of ancient Egyptian princess Ananka and her living guardian mummy Kharis. Learning th...
1944-07-07
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/29243

Three big takeaways from Taiwan's recalls:

1. Even though the pro-recall movement was highly mobilized, and the KMT efforts to recall DPP legislators flopped, blue voter networks are not dead or apathetic. KMT voters can and will still mobilize for their party when need be.

The Curious Case of the Taiwan People's Party, Part 1: Policy, Office, or Votes? This post got so long I broke it into [two] --> [three] --> FOUR pieces. Part 1 is below. Part 2 is her e, Part 3 is here , and Part 4 is here .

Finally wrote something about the Taiwan People's Party. Read to the end to find out why the TPP is the biggest reason most KMT legislators are going to face recall votes on July 26:

www.kharistempleman.com/blog/the-cur...

Huge loss. Mala Htun did pathbreaking work on gender representation. This is terrible:
provost.unm.edu/news-and-art...

國民黨前南投縣長李朝卿「98貪污罪判656年4月」 關21年2月確定 - 社會 - 自由時報電子報 原國民黨籍前南投縣長李朝卿（已入獄），任內利用颱風修復或重建工程收回扣，無論大小工程都要拿一成回扣，連運動會買紀念品都要貪；李先後被依98個貪污罪判刑656年4月，後來檢方聲請定應執行刑時，李自稱是初犯，已潛修佛法、一心懺悔，請求合併應執行不超過17年6月，台中高分院仍對他裁定執行21月2月，最高法院駁回抗告確定。最高法院維持台中高分院裁定，指李朝卿所犯貪污罪，均與南投縣政府公共工程相關，犯罪時間...

Former Nantou county magistrate sentenced for charges totally 656 years and 4 months, it's confirmed he will serve 21 years and 2 months

Map of ECMWF ensemble average precipitation over the Western U.S. through Tuesday morning. Half an inch or more of liquid equivalent (locally snow) is possible in the SoCal mountains, with a few tenths of rain elsewhere.

SoCal showers now likely Sun-Mon! Decent soaking (0.5+ in.) possible mtns; lighter (0.2-0.5 in.) elsewhere. This will be a cold/convective system (w/showers + t-storms). Enough to tamp down but not end fire season; t-storm downpours may risk fire zone debris flows. #CAwx #CAfire

I just got banned on Little Red Book 小红书, it was really easy. All you have to do is write the words “Tiananmen Square 1989” or even better “Taiwan is a Country” and you will break the glass hearts of 1.3 billion netizens.

Stefanik has clearly done her homework—in line with her earned reputation as a quick study, she has clearly put in the time and learned a lot about the UN

Magnitude 6 earthquake shakes Taiwan Thrusting within a complicated and mysterious tectonic collision

🧪⚒️ A M6 earthquake shook southwestern Taiwan earlier today, causing at least one building to collapse.

The faults in western Taiwan are mapped in detail - thrusts soling to a detachment at 5-6 km depth. So why did this earthquake occur several km deeper?

Read more on our blog:

【Earthquake Report No.007】 - Central Weather Administration Origin time(Taiwan Standard Time: GMT+08:00): 2025/01/21 00:17, location: 37.9 km SE of Chiayi County Hall, focal depth: 9.7 km, magnitude(ML): 6.4

Just saw the Presidential Alert and felt a rather long earthquake up here in Taipei. Initial reports indicate M6.4 with an epicenter in Chiayi County, somewhere around Tsengwen Reservoir, where I was just a few days ago... www.cwa.gov.tw/V8/E/E/EQ/EQ...

Algeria pivots to China for naval strength, sidelines Russia The Algerian Ministry of Defense has unveiled a plan to begin constructing Chinese Type 056 corvettes at local shipyard…

Algeria, one of Russia's top 5 arms customers, just shifted a major naval order to China. In line with a broader shift to China, which has already displaced Russia as the top arms exporter to Sub-Saharan Africa.

dailywrap.ca/algeria-pivo...

Taiwan’s premier says opposition’s budget cuts would cripple key government functions The opposition has proposed a record NT$214.7 billion (S$8.94 billion) in cuts to the budget. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Taiwan's premier has said the government faced a crisis in day-to-day operations, including national security, because of large cuts to this year's budget proposed by opposition parties, who have cited a need to cut waste. www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-as...

潛艦國造預算藍改凍結50％ 專報後可動支 - 政治 - 自由時報電子報 立法院國民黨團提案凍結今年度潛艦國造預算18億元，海軍司令部昨表示，原型艦正在持續進行各項測試，預算若遭大幅凍結，恐會延宕後續艦籌獲期程，加劇敵我戰力失衡，籲請立法院支持後續艦20億元預算全數照列。對此，國民黨團書記長林思銘今日受訪表示，國造潛艦海鯤號預算，國民黨團原本要凍結18億，通過2億，經過與民眾黨團、跨部會溝通協調說明，最後底定版本是凍結50%，國防部到外交及國防委員會專案報告以後就可以動...

KMT really wants that submarine budget cut, hm?

news.ltn.com.tw/news/politic...

During the recent election in Hyogo, supporters of Governor Saito spread defamatory information about a local politician who was investigating the governor. The politician was found dead yesterday from an apparent suicide, and he is still being defamed online.
news.goo.ne.jp/article/yomi...

Taiwan Is on the Brink of a Constitutional Crisis And maybe a fiscal one, too. And no, it has nothing to do with China.

www.kharistempleman.com/blog/taiwan-...

December 20, 2024, in the Taiwan legislature: The DPP party caucus tries and fails to blockade the speaker's podium to prevent a final vote on three controversial bills.

Taiwan is on the brink of a constitutional crisis. I detail how it got so bad, so fast, here:

www.kharistempleman.com/blog/taiwan-...

E.g.: the constitutional court members serve 8-yr terms. So the court that struck down the KMT-TPP power-grab bills last summer was entirely appointed by Tsai Ing-wen and approved by a DPP LY. Not hard to see why the opposition now wants to paralyze the court unless they get nominees they like.

警察年改三讀　所得替代率80％、退警月領7.4萬「比部會次長高」 | ETtoday政治新聞 | ETtoday新聞雲 立法院上周五院會原定處理「警察人員人事條例修正草案」，要將退休警消所得替代率提高到90%甚至95%，因在野陣營尚未凝聚共識，改到今（7日）院會處理，昨朝野協商時，國民黨將所得替代率改為提高到80％，八成退休基層警察月退休金可領到74544元。稍早院會表決，贊成60位、反對49位，綠委伍麗華棄權，該提案三讀通過。銓敘部指出，大部分警察人員月退俸比常務次長還多，一般文官公務員無法接受，還會衝擊現有警力...

KMT and TPP legislators just passed bill raising income replacement rate to 80% for pensions of retired police officers and firefighters. DPP government officials & legislators opposed the move, explaining it will only increase generational conflicts and exhaust the pension fund early.

KMT/TPP passed a law to divert central government funds to local governments but allocated funds to cities/counties with more businesses instead of based on demographics (like areas with more elderly/children). TPP has again gone back on promises of supporting young families.

tinyurl.com/5d44ej5k

Taiwan’s Constitutional Crisis Threatens Its Democracy The Constitutional Court has been effectively sidelined through a legislative gambit – and the biggest losers are the Taiwanese people.

Taiwan has been on a path towards a constitutional crisis since last summer. One root problem is that its institutions aren't designed to handle divided goverment. A lot of the political pathologies of the Chen Shui-bian era have reappeared.

thediplomat.com/2025/01/taiw...

JOB OPENING: I'm seeking to hire a deputy director, program administrator to work with my fantastic team in GMF's Indo-Pacific program. This is primarily a managerial and admin/budget position in either Berlin or DC. Apply here: www.gmfus.org/about/careers

PTIP - Weitseng Chen on National Security Investment Screening in Taiwan and Singapore The Hoover Institution Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region and the Program on the US, China, and the World invite you to Guardians of Economic Sovereignty: How Taiwan and Singapore Navigate.....

This coming Wednesday -- Hoover Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific will host Weitseng Chen for a talk on national security investment screening in Singapore vs Taiwan. Details here:

www.kharistempleman.com/blog/ptip-we...

JF Books, been around just a year, at DuPont Circle, the DC reincarnation of an influential intellectual hub back in Shanghai before being shut down there by the gov, is shaping up to be an important salon for ideas on China’s past and future.

After reading these two articles, I am even more skeptical about the usefulness of the concept of "far right" in Latin America - beyond describing a generic "reactionary" position.

Elbridge Colby, advocate of South Korea going nuclear, named top Pentagon official for policy Colby has previously argued that South Korea should take up more of the defense burden, particularly when it comes to countering North Korea

Bridge Colby, soon to be OSD Policy chief, lays out views here that lead directly to the withdrawal of US forces from Korea. There should be no illusions about where this is heading.
english.hani.co.kr/arti/english...

The death of woman Wang and the life of Jonathan Spence – The China Project "The Death of Woman Wang" was an extraordinary book by an extraordinary historian, the late China scholar Jonathan Spence.

Thinking for some reason about my teacher, Jonathan Spence. With the third anniversary of his passing (Christmas day) approaching, I would like to share this remembrance of him (and my favorite book of his) that I wrote for my @thechinaproject.bsky.social column thechinaproject.com/2022/01/26/t...

聯合報黑白集／黃珊珊是手滑或心滑？ | 聯合新聞網 立法院就考試委員同意權投票，這麼簡單的事，在野黨竟有四立委投錯，令人匪夷所思。有人是首次當立委，這其實不成理由。最不可思...

This short UDN editorial suggests that at least some people in the Blue camp are concerned about what happened with that vote. For those who don't read UDN regularly, these short op-eds on p.2 are where the paper's deep Blue paranoid id finds caustic expression.
udn.com/news/story/7...

New Examination Yuan head confirmed by Legislature - Focus Taiwan The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Chou Hung-hsien (周弘憲) and Hsu Shu-hsiang (許舒翔) as the new president and vice president of the Examination Yuan.

Notable divergence btwn KMT and TPP on vote for Examination Yuan president Chou Hung-hsien. KMT opposes, TPP votes put him over the top, 59-53.

Committee nominee Ker Li-ling is opposed by both caucuses so fails to get confirmed; other 6 confirmed w/o opposition:

focustaiwan.tw/politics/202...

Taiwan Travelogue A bittersweet story of love between two women, nested in an artful exploration of language, history, and power May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japa…

In all sincerity, I believe Taiwan Travelogue, by Yáng Shuāngzǐ - which just won the National Book Award for translated work - to be very possibly the best book I have *ever* read. Layers upon layers of meaning. It is absolutely outstanding.

www.yuricon.com/product/taiw...