Article close to the mark
Derek Lee's article on Taiwan's local factions ("Local factions peddle politics," Nov. 25, page 17) was well taken overall and very timely in describing the role of factions in buying votes, but it had some historical inaccuracies.
Most notably, Hsu Hsin-liang (
My impression is that the split between local factions supporting the KMT and more educated cadres sent by KMT central did not become an issue in 1977; at that time local factions were still entirely subordinate and dependant.
The KMT continued to have a heavy hand in local factional politics until the mid-1990s, I think -- until some local candidates, for example in Tainan, became too unsavory to openly promote.
The connection remains, or vote buying would not still be rampant and in need of serious suppression efforts.
Finally, it should be noted that the illegitimate interests of local factions have often become legitimate-looking businesses and these have somewhat infiltrated the DPP, in the north and south.
This makes it difficult for the DPP to appear as virtuous as it would like.
Linda Gail Arrigo
International Affairs Officer
Green Party Taiwan
Taipei
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