The KMT has parted company with its former chairman Lee Teng-hui (
For Lee, it was easy not to attend the congress; he did not have to give any reason. For the KMT, however, not inviting its former chairman to join the celebrations was cause for considerable embarrassment. The party certainly needed to give a reason for its snub. It was very smart in saying that Lee was not qualified to attend because he was not a KMT representative of any kind. But Lee as a former chairman could have been a guest of honor.
However, under no circumstances, it seemed, was Lee to be allowed to show up. This was the KMT's established policy, as evidenced by the fact that the party did not even reserve a seat for him at the congress.
In its attempt to "cancel" Lee, the KMT even refrained from hanging the portraits of its erstwhile leaders -- except for Sun Yat-sen (
Despite his absence, Lee dominated the congress. All the way up to Chairman Lien Chan (
In his speech, Lien implicitly attacked Lee and the Taiwan Solidarity Union that he is supporting. Liang Su-yung (
But such moves met with criticism. Some lawmakers lashed out at Liang for "talking a lot of nonsense." Some even wanted Lee to go on stage at the congress. The most important topic at the KMT's 16th national congress turned out to be "how to handle the Lee Teng-hui issue properly."
Lee's power is clear from all this. Without Lee firing a single shot, the KMT had to busy itself erecting heavy fortifications and clearing the field to defend itself against him. Lee was fearsome in his absence -- perhaps more so than if he had shown up.
In their Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels said, "A specter is haunting Europe -- the specter of communism."
Similarly, a spectre was haunting the KMT's congress -- the specter of its former leader. This specter won't be going away anytime soon, especially not before the year-end elections. And it looks like this spectre could be even more powerful after those polls.
Chin Heng-wei is editor in chief of the Contemporary Monthly magazine.
Translated by Francis Huang
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