Last Sunday, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) mobilized its supporters in a demonstration to denounce the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government's termination of the National Unification Council (NUC), saying the move was an attempt to seek de jure independence. They believe that it was done at the expense of improving the livelihood of the people and promoting Taiwan's economy.
In response, the DPP has mobilized supporters to attend a demonstration scheduled for this Saturday in support of the termination of the NUC and to criticize the opposition for "joining hands with the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] against Taiwan."
Actually, all of this is no more than preparation for the year-end Taipei mayoral and city council elections, and has nothing to do with the livelihoods of the Taiwanese people. Neither demonstration is particularly significant. However many people the DPP's rally attracts, this will not hide the party's administrative ineptitude. This was underlined by the DPP loss in the Chiayi City by-election last Saturday. The DPP government has disappointed voters, whose only recourse is to punish them at the polls. In addition to a poor administrative record, the honesty of government officials has also come into question following a number of recent scandals.
At the same time, there are all sorts of internal wranglings and power struggles going on. Not long ago the New Tide faction of the DPP called a press conference to accuse former premier Frank Hsieh (
If the DPP has been incompetent, the KMT has blindly pandered to Beijing, and is seemingly incapable of telling fantasy from reality. The pan-blue leaders are pinning their hopes for an economic revival on the "three links" -- the establishment of direct trade, postal and transportation ties with China. Meanwhile, they hold up unification as their ultimate goal. This kind of thinking, which plays right into China's hands, leaves one unsure whether to laugh or cry.
The direct links policy will lead to an acceleration in the outflow of industry and capital from Taiwan. This will lead to increased unemployment, crime, social entropy, a worsening of the investment environment and economic fatigue. If this happens, Taiwanese will lose the confidence and motivation to build up the nation as an advanced technological and cultural center. Beijing has used cunning strategies to lure Taiwanese businesses into investing blindly in China, and as a result many of these businesses have collapsed. Doesn't KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Of all the promises made by Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Taiwan's two main political camps should wake up to reality and not needlessly engage in the mass mobilization of supporters against each other. This is a waste of our political resources and sharpens the confrontation between the pan-green and pan-blue camps. They only see their domestic rivals' faults, but fail to notice the deadly trap that looms ahead of them both.
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