Tue, Sep 07, 2004 page8

• Editorial: Time to choose a successor

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  President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) completed his trip to Central America with his arrival at CKS International Airport on Sunday morning. He has continued the precedent he established in his first term, when he traveled overseas four times in four years. On this trip, Chen not only touched on the relations between Taiwan, China and the US, but also spent a significant amount of time and effort on domestic issues. Of the issues that he raised, two warrant greater attention. The first is that Chen said that "ROC" should be replaced by "Taiwan" in dealings with the international community. The second are his observations on the powers of the president and the premier and also on the distribution of power within the ruling party.

  During his seven-day tour, Chen vowed to integrate and simplify the electoral calendar and modify the powers and responsibilities of the president and legislature in relation to each other. On the diplomatic front, Chen said that the reduced ceremony of his transit in the US didn't indicate any alteration in the Taiwan-US relationship. As to cross-strait affairs, in order to promote positive cross-strait military dynamics, Chen called off a portion of the annual Han Kuang live-fire military exercises this year in response to China's cancelation of its Dongshan Island exercise. All these statements made headlines and created some controversy in political circles, but they only held interest for a moment before being forgotten.

  Only the issue of rectifying the country's title still receives attention. Of Premier Yu Shyi-kun's statement that Taiwan could be called "Taiwan, ROC," Chen said: "The shortened form for the nation's name is Taiwan. What does the ROC have to do with it?" This statement gave a great boost to his supporters, and the ruling party is more encouraged in its determination to push forward the "Call Taiwan `Taiwan'" campaign.

  With Chen's return from abroad, media and political circles are now largely concerned with the possibility of a change in premier and a reshuffling of the power structure within the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) after the December legislative election. As the election approaches, the furore surrounding these issues will only increase.

  Battles over political succession are often associated with authoritarian regimes characterized by a cult of personality. Ensuring a smooth succession is regarded as a highly sophisticated type of knowledge in Asian communities, especially those influenced by Confucianism. Even though Chen has a grassroots background and has dedicated his political career to improving such universal values as human rights, equality and democracy, yet the overall political ideology is still based on such ideas as king-making and the succession of power. Unfortunately, Chen has consciously or unwittingly become part of game, actively or passively manipulating the political agenda.

  While in opposition, the DPP never had a succession problem. During his first term, Chen's main concern was to win a second term. Now that he has begun his second term, the problem of who will succeed has become all the more glaring. The goal for the DPP in the immediate future is not to forge ahead, but to establish a rational, objective and effective distribution and use of power.

  Former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) implemented a policy for a collective succession, but eventually former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was still able to fulfill his historic role for Taiwan. The glorious Lee period came under a shadow when Lee picked the wrong successor.

  Both Chiang and Lee were constrained by the king-making of Chinese tradition and their hand picked successors were no match for the relentless march of time. We hope that Chen will be able to reflect on these lessons and not be over manipulative of the effects of media issues, missing the opportunity to establish a good distribution of power.
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