With Liao Cheng-hao's (
New Party convener Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大) and the party's general secretary, Ho Chen-sheng (何振盛), used this situation to criticize PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) for doing his best to belittle their party. They also mentioned the help the New Party gave Soong during the Chung Hsing Bills case (興票案).and promoted Wang Chien-shien (王建烜) as a replacement for Liao, hoping that the KMT and the PFP would consider the overall picture.
The New Party is stepping into the void created by the breakdown in relations between the KMT and the PFP, though it is well aware that there is no place for it in the pan-KMT camp. But at least they can show themselves, say a few words and prove their continued existence.
The embattled Soong has not made any remarks regarding Wang, but he has pointed out that there is a need for differentiation within the pan-KMT camp. Otherwise they could just as well join up as one party. The question is why there has to be differentiation toward the New Party when the KMT and the PFP can join hands without fear of not differing on some issues.
It is a fact that Soong has deliberately attracted New Party supporters, something that the defection of Feng Ting-kuo (
Frankly, the New Party may already be clear about this in their minds. In the past, the party did its best to clear itself of its unificationist image and distance itself from Beijing in order to gain the trust of the electorate. Now they have thrown it all overboard for the "one country, two systems" or "one country, three systems" model to attract fundamentalist votes. Whether or not they will succeed is still an open question. But openly going to Beijing for "party-to-party talks" is tantamount to abandoning Taiwan for China.
This is exactly what Soong means when he talks about differentiation: he pointed out that when the New Party put together a delegation to go to China, it was anxious to push ahead. Being anxious to push ahead means blindly rushing ahead along ideological lines. Once the New Party joins hands with the pan-KMT camp, the burden of their rushing along will have to be carried by the pan-KMT camp.
Has the New Party been forced to push ahead to protect its existence only after having been swallowed whole by the PFP? Soong's "differentiation" is only a footnote to the dissipation of the New Party. The deterioration of the party from its establishment to the state they are in today is not surprising, and Soong is only lending a helping hand.
Chin Heng-wei is the editor in chief of Contemporary Monthly.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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