Beware the `Pan-Tu' menace
One cannot imagine US legislators or other politicians hobnobbing with Osama bin Laden, much less striking an "agreement of cooperation" with him to destroy the US government or one of its political parties.
First, no one would accept it; and secondly, no one in his or her right mind would want to be associated with it. Finally, it would be treasonous under US law, and perpetrators would be tossed into solitary forever.
Things in Taiwan appear somewhat different now. Today, brazen treason has replaced phony political platforms, and the pan-blue camp boldly pronounces it has joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) "to defeat Taiwanese independence."
But let's understand clearly what the pan-blue leadership is all about. It is not about benefiting Taiwan, it is not about benefiting Taiwanese citizens and it is not even about purported "unification."
It is simply about power -- raw, unbridled, dictatorial power. For the past six years, bemoaning its loss of presidential power, unable to conceive of its decline, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has taken every single treasonous step it could to seize power back.
Witness its laughingstock "Truth Commission" -- an obvious attempt to annul the election through a phony investigation of the assassination attempt against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by a KMT sympathizer -- or the procession of party officials tramping off to Beijing to kneel before Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), kiss his ring and receive the promise of eternal power over Taiwan.
It is truly what the now-diminished -- and increasingly irrelevant -- pan-blues have decided they must do in order to survive; it is the only course the old dictatorship-driven leadership can imagine, blinded by power and greed, unable to grasp the magnitude of their betrayal or the enormous power wielded by a true democracy.
One must even wonder whether KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Eight years ago, if anyone proclaimed alignment with the CCP, the KMT would have excoriated them, crying "traitor, traitor." Today, the KMT has embraced the world's most vicious tyrant as its ally. It is our turn to cry out "traitor, traitor." Because the KMT has no hope of achieving the popularity sufficient to win a presidential election -- not even "Teflon Ma Ying-jeou." No, the KMT will have to arrange to sabotage Taiwan -- or the election -- before then.
This has already begun: another "Truth Commission," another attempt to rewrite history, ignore the facts and find a way to impeach the president. Then there's the cross-strait "peace" commission -- an outright illegal attempt to rewrite the Constitution, bestowing foreign policy powers upon a legislative commission made up of pan-blue appointed commissioners with the power to enter into treaties and agreements with China.
Having lost the election, stealing executive power is the next best thing.
There is no depth to which the pan-blues will not sink to defeat democracy and freedom in Taiwan.
If you doubt this is the case, you can start with the pan-blues' refusal to consider buying weapons to defend Taiwan against China. This single action should alone be a sufficient wake-up call to the people of Taiwan to understand the true purpose of the pan-blues in Taiwan's politics today.
That purpose, as per an agreement with the CCP, is to emasculate Taiwan and to bring it to its knees so that the pan-blues can take over.
With that, democracy as we know it would quickly disappear, and the country would rapidly be plunged once again into a period of "White Terror." We would see "purges" of "splittists," the passage of laws eroding political and personal freedoms and perhaps even martial law.
The pan-blues would never want to hand the reins of power back to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The way to do that would be to outlaw the DPP. As incapable as the DPP has been in dealing with the KMT's ruthless treason, that is how ruthless the KMT will be when it arrests the leadership of the DPP and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).
You doubt this? The KMT has brazenly identified itself as the servant of the CCP in Taiwan. The CCP has conducted purges during its history that have eradicated all freedoms for all people, except for cronies and high officials.
There is absolutely no reason to believe the KMT and CCP would behave any differently towards Taiwan.
They are both parties of tyrants, parties of dictators and parties of oppression and terror. Just listen to their rhetoric.
Knowing all this, how could any Taiwanese vote for a party that is against Taiwan? How could anyone trust a party that has sandbagged Taiwan's best interests at every opportunity in the past six years -- including sabotaging applications to the World Health Organization, and, once again, the UN?
For anyone who has doubts about whether this dark view of the future under the pan-blues is credible, just consider this. Do you think the KMT would allow anyone in Taiwan to march in protest over its policies? To gather outside the Presidential Office or the mighty KMT headquarters? Or do you think they would be the first to march soldiers into the streets to quell any dissent and even shoot protesters?
Do you think the KMT would allow anyone who vehemently disagrees with the party to write about it in the newspapers? Or is it more likely that the KMT, with a history of absolute rule, would squash dissent, much like Beijing has since 1949?
If former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
If the KMT has proclaimed itself the ally of the CCP, a party that seeks to annex Taiwan -- an annexation that would effectively end democracy in Taiwan -- why would anyone believe the KMT would do anything to preserve the people's rights and freedoms? Beijing does not protect the rights and freedoms of China's citizens. Why would its ally, the KMT, protect Taiwan's citizens?
Why would anyone trust the party to protect them, when it has announced it wants to unify with the world's worst dictatorship? Why would anyone trust such a party to protect their rights?
I truly hope the people of Taiwan will wake up to this before 2007. Lack of vigilance on this matter will destroy the country.
Either the KMT must re-invent itself as a party for Taiwan, or it must be soundly defeated, again and again, at every turn.
To those who earnestly believe they are better off financially under the KMT, I warn you. Today, you may drive your nice car, and live nicely, watch the TV programs you like, use the Internet, speak to your neighbor or your colleague at work about anything you like, worship freely, vote freely. But tomorrow, when you wake up under a Beijing-backed pan-blue regime, those freedoms will be gone, because Taiwan will become part of Communist China.
Should you believe that somehow those freedoms would survive "unification," understand this. Hong Kong rejoined China because it had no choice. Even so, there has been erosion of freedom there, and certainly suppression of democracy.
Taiwan is different. With democracy rooted so strongly in Taiwan, and half the population yearning for independence, Beijing's only choice upon "unification" would be to crush the opposition. That would mean clamping down tightly on freedom and democracy, and erasing local identity.
If you doubt this, just look at Tibet. Since 1959, China has done everything in its power to erase Tibetan culture. The same would happen in Taiwan. Taiwanese culture and language would disappear from the face of the Earth.
Perhaps to some, such as former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), who yearned to return "home" to China, this would not be such a great tragedy.
Thankfully, they do not speak for the rest of the people, and not even two cute panda bears -- Pan Pan and Tu Tu -- can hide the malice.
Actions speak louder than words. Any party that would be willing to completely sacrifice its nation's defenses by blocking the weapons it originally proposed to buy cannot possibly have the nation's interests at heart.
The KMT has done everything short of inviting Beijing to march into Taipei and take over -- and it remains to be seen if that, too, was a topic of discussion in Beijing when the "Pan-Tu" procession took place this summer.
If the KMT wins the presidency in 2008, that is exactly what will happen.
Given half a chance, it could be sooner.
Lee Long-hwa
United States
The need for consensus
Your editorial "Diplomacy must transcend parties" (Oct. 4, page 8) made a good point. President Chen Shui-bian's diplomatic tour -- dubbed the "Jung Pang" project -- proved to be successful. You advised that opposition parties should "monitor government aid policy to ensure that funds are not misspent or pilfered, hurting diplomatic relations that have been so built up through painstaking effort."
It reminds me of the blocking of the special arms-procurement bill.
The special arms-purchase package has failed to make it onto the agenda in the legislature 31 times. Now, Political Warfare Bureau General Hu Zhenfu (胡鎮浦) is sincerely calling on our countrymen to support the weapons purchase.
Describing the diplomatic situation, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said: "Taiwan must find its oasis in the desert."
We must also find a way out for our national defense. Taiwan cannot live without national security. Without it, this nation would be undefendable. Without the support of our allies, especially the US, no one would come to Taiwan's aid if China invaded on the pretext of putting an end to a civil war.
Diplomacy must transcend party politics, but so must national defense.
National security considerations should be a continuous and non-partisan process.
I'd be glad to see every political party in Taiwan working together for the country.
Dai Kaifeng
Taichung
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