The past few days have seen so many bewildering and inexplicable events relating to the presidential campaign that one despairs of making head or tail of it. But more than any other, there is one question which sticks in the mind. Why must the pan-blue alliance continually obfuscate the truth?
As if it weren't bad enough to run five full-page ads in Chinese-language newspapers equating President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) with Adolf Hitler, People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) then proved his utter contemptibility in a statement on Friday regarding the Central Election Commission's decision to count misplaced presidential ballots.
"If Chen insists on counting ballots placed in the wrong ballot boxes as valid, then he is acting just like that dictator, Hitler," he declared.
Such a patently absurd claim deserves to be heaped with ridicule. Comparing the Chen administration to the Nazi regime is, at best, a total misrepresentation of historical fact or, at worst, malicious and offensive libel.
The pan-blues have once again proven their compulsive hypocrisy and craven amorality.
You needn't be exceedingly familiar with the history of Taiwan to judge which political party's past most closely resembles the genocidal violence and fascist oppression of Hitler's National Socialist Party.
The murder, torture and persecution of political dissidents and minority ethnic groups by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) under Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) are matters of record. The use of assassination, the employment of brutal thugs to assault opposition members, the repression of free speech, the quashing of political dissent, the use of torture, sham trials and summary executions are all characteristics of the KMT during the White Terror.
It would be irresponsible and unethical to claim that the modern KMT still employs such tactics. But surely its shift toward a more benign style of politics is a result of the efforts of people such as Chen -- a longtime democracy activist, former human-rights lawyer and victim of KMT oppression -- to make the government accountable to the people.
During last Saturday's 313 Rally, Soong fell to his knees in Taichung and kissed the ground to "show his love for Taiwan." Not to be outdone, Lien later prostrated himself before the Presidential Office and kissed the ground as well. How these gestures will be interpreted by the electorate is not clear, but it is clear that Lien and Soong will do anything, even abase themselves in public, to gain power.
Lately, the pan-blue camp has been running a series of TV advertisements in which it has attempted to equate Lien with former US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt and former UK prime minister Winston Churchill. But it seems that when the alliance was studying up on these leaders, there was an error in translation.
Roosevelt said: "We, and all others who believe in freedom as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees." Apparently the pan-blues have translated this as, "It is better to win on your knees than lose on your feet."
The pan-blues should be ashamed of adopting such cheap, indefensible theatrics. It would be easier to respect the policies and leadership of the KMT and the PFP were they to refrain from making such spurious and feckless declarations. But it is too much to expect the pan-blues to use truth in their campaign.
For were they to tell the truth about their shadowy financial dealings, their connections to the underworld, their corruption, their pandering to Beijing and their subordination of Taiwan's welfare in their quest to quench their thirst for power, no one would vote for them.
Mac William Bishop is a political commentator based in Taipei.
From the Iran war and nuclear weapons to tariffs and artificial intelligence, the agenda for this week’s Beijing summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is packed. Xi would almost certainly bring up Taiwan, if only to demonstrate his inflexibility on the matter. However, no one needs to meet with Xi face-to-face to understand his stance. A visit to the National Museum of China in Beijing — in particular, the “Road to Rejuvenation” exhibition, which chronicles the rise and rule of the Chinese Communist Party — might be even more revealing. Xi took the members
Taiwan’s higher education system is facing an existential crisis. As the demographic drop-off continues to empty classrooms, universities across the island are locked in a desperate battle for survival, international student recruitment and crucial Ministry of Education funding. To win this battle, institutions have turned to what seems like an objective measure of quality: global university rankings. Unfortunately, this chase is a costly illusion, and taxpayers are footing the bill. In the past few years, the goalposts have shifted from pure research output to “sustainability” and “societal impact,” largely driven by commercial metrics such as the UK-based Times Higher Education (THE) Impact
The inter-Korean relationship, long defined by national division, offers the clearest mirror within East Asia for cross-strait relations. Yet even there, reunification language is breaking down. The South Korean government disclosed on Wednesday last week that North Korea’s constitutional revision in March had deleted references to reunification and added a territorial clause defining its border with South Korea. South Korea is also seriously debating whether national reunification with North Korea is still necessary. On April 27, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung marked the eighth anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration, the 2018 inter-Korean agreement in which the two Koreas pledged to
I wrote this before US President Donald Trump embarked on his uneventful state visit to China on Thursday. So, I shall confine my observations to the joint US-Philippine military exercise of April 20 through May 8, known collectively as “Balikatan 2026.” This year’s Balikatan was notable for its “firsts.” First, it was conducted primarily with Taiwan in mind, not the Philippines or even the South China Sea. It also showed that in the Pacific, America’s alliance network is still robust. Allies are enthusiastic about America’s renewed leadership in the region. Nine decades ago, in 1936, America had neither military strength
RSS