Wed, Mar 17, 2004 page8

• Editorial: Choosing the future or the past

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  Three days from now, voters will be making a choice between the ticket of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) and the ticket of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).

  But the significance of this time's vote goes beyond choosing the country's leadership for the next four years.

  In light of the differences between the China policies of Chen and Lien, Saturday's vote will determine the nation's future relations with China. It will determine whether Taiwan will leave China's shadow behind and walk its own path, or whether walk backwards to past KMT rule -- and have its Taiwanese awareness suppressed by the pan-blue camp and accept Beijing's manipulation.

  The DPP's campaign headquarters also has decided to focus the final days of the campaign on Taiwanese awareness and opposition to "black gold" politics.

  Lien and Soong prostrated and kissed the ground last Saturday in an attempt to prove their love for Taiwan and win over the hearts of middle-of-the-road voters. But their pretension was hardly convincing. In its editorial yesterday, the Chinese-language Liberty Times [the Taipei Times' sister paper] minced no words about Lien and Soong's behavior. The editorial asked whether the two men kissed the land of Taiwan, or did they kiss the land of a province of China? Would a politician ever need to kneel down and kiss the ground to show his love for Taiwan if he or she has fought for the construction of Taiwanese awareness, or if he or she has taken to the streets to join hands with others in protest against Chinese missiles?

  After 2 million people took to the streets to say no to China on Feb. 28, the KMT-PFP camp immediately began organizing rallies for last Saturday in an attempt to kiss up to China. The message that the pan-blue camp sent to Beijing was: "Master, you need not worry that the Taiwanese people may resist you. Look, we have more people loyal to China. We can show them what we are made of." So they prostrated themselves and kissed the land of Taiwan Province, China; they have always viewed this nation that way.

  In another sign of apparent desperation, fugitive tycoon Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) has been making muddled overtures toward the Democratic Progressive Party. Even though he continues to accuse various officials of malfeasance, he now says the donations he made to the party were perfectly legal. He says he just wanted to prove who was lying about the donations. But he has never mentioned the NT$100 million he donated to Lien and Soong during the last election. Perhaps he doesn't care if they lie.

  Another dubious character who has popped up to back the pan-blue ticket is Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄), the disgraced ex-speaker of the Kaohsiung City Council. He also took part in a pan-blue rally last Saturday. Chu, who has been convicted of embezzling several hundred million NT dollars from his company, was once a KMT member. This means about the same thing as Chen Yu-hao's attacks against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). These two men hate the DPP because it opposes the corruption that allowed them to prosper for so long. They know that their only hope for a new lease on life is if Lien and Soong win.

  Saturday's election comes down to the choice between a vote for a future for Taiwan or a vote for the past.
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