The DPP, just like the KMT, loves to call national meetings at the drop of a hat. Following the National Financial Conference
Particularly absurd were the so-called "six cuts" (
The six cuts are just empty slogans, totally meaningless. Chang demanded, for example, that all government departments must "take immediate action when problems occur and actively seek solutions to solve problems."
Although Chang has only been in the post for a few months, he has already come up with several beautiful slogans. Not only was his "Taiwan Double" -- the ambitious economic goal of doubling of the GNP -- ridiculed, but his "knowledge economy" was also criticized by local business chiefs such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀). The six cuts are also guaranteed to become a laughing stock. What Chang really needs to cut are his slogans and cliches.
People who love to shout slogans usually have a common failing -- they seem to believe that the problem is solved once they have shouted their slogans. If our government leaders are afflicted by this failing, we are bound to experience a crisis whereby the nation will be ruled only by slogans or "only by tongues"
Ever since the DPP took office, it has displayed a typical symptom of "ruling the nation only by tongues." Each senior official is extremely talkative and boastful. Although they have been bragging for months, no aspect of government affairs, from cross-strait relations to the domestic economy, has been improved by their empty words. In fact, things are getting worse.
Worst of all, those who try to rule the nation by their tongues will suffer the consequences of "causing trouble with their tongue" (禍從口出). Often, the DPP's failure to implement its policies does not result from the opposition's lack of co-operation, but from its own carelessness. They are asking for trouble.
Minority rule is difficult enough as it is. The DPP leaders, however, seem to feel that they don't have enough problems, as they often ask for more trouble with their big mouths. The main reason the DPP's hasn't achieved anything so far is precisely that they are too busy dealing with disputes caused by their words. They have done nothing right; indeed, they haven't had time to do anything. It is not an exaggeration when the media describes the DPP's problems as "one wave surging after another" (一波未平一波又起).
Opposition parties usually increase their power during a conflict or a crisis. As a result, they sometimes even try to create a conflict simply to gain more power. The DPP used to be very good at this when it was an opposition party. As a ruling party, however, it must never follow this strategy. Otherwise, it will be asking for trouble, and its power will be obliterated in one conflict and crisis after another.
If the DPP really wants to achieve something, the party should never ask for trouble again, and DPP officials should stop asking for trouble with their tongues. If they are too talkative, they will eventually drown in their own saliva.
Wang Chien-chuang is president of The Journalist magazine.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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