Every time James Soong
When Soong returned from a trip to the US last year, his plane arrived ahead of schedule and many supporters were upset because they missed the chance to greet him. Earlier this month, Soong was on a flight due to arrive back in Taiwan at 6am. Supporters met at 4:30am to take specially-arranged buses to the airport. At dawn that morning, all one could see in the arrivals hall were the tired faces and bloodshot eyes of Soong supporters.
Soong's people, including both staff advisors and supporters, are exceedingly loyal to him. The cohesive force that binds them is also very strong. Any place that Soong goes, there is always a crowd attending to him.
For example, Soong need only convene a press conference and a large group of political supporters will invariably line up behind him. They are there just to show their faces and bolster his prestige -- they never get to say a word.
Officialdom throughout the world has its hail-and-farewell rituals for VIPs, but rarely do we see these rituals taken to the extremes displayed in Taiwan. The extent of an official's power in Taiwan appears to be directly proportional to the degree of fanfare surrounding his trips.
In fact, however, the more democratic a country, the less the importance placed on such rituals. Unless a journey happens to be endowed with great historical significance, the entire court never turns out in full force to mark the comings and goings of political leaders, even if they happen to be a head of state. If the person travelling abroad is only the leader of a political party, there is even less need for ostentatious send-offs or receptions.
After Chiang Ching-kuo (
Soong is the "great inventor" in Taiwan's culture of officialdom. The cap on his head and the jacket on his back, although part of the Chiang legacy, have now become his trademark, one that everyone is frantically trying to imitate, even DPP leaders. It appears as though people in politics have to wear a uniform.
In the past, no one referred to a government organ as a "team," but since Soong invented the term "provincial government team," expressions like "Presidential Office team," "Cabinet team" and "ministry or commission team" have spread far and wide. Even private corporations are vying to call themselves "teams."
Good aspects of the culture of officialdom are worth popularizing, studying and imitating. But the bad aspects -- such as lavish hails and farewells or press conferences in which political figures line up behind a certain politician -- run counter to democracy. Even if Soong isn't the originator of this kind of culture, he has come to epitomize it. He needs to correct its excesses. Otherwise, it will have a negative influence on him, on political parties and even on the political culture in general.
Wang Chien-chuang is president of The Journalist magazine.
Translated by Ethan Harkness
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