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The DPP's successes outweigh its failures

During the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) National Congress debate on the "normal country" resolution, Vice Premier Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) said: "The DPP is a ruling party. Therefore, it not only has to establish ideals, but also fulfill them. This is the government's greatest challenge and responsibility. If it only talks about ideals without doing anything, it will be no different from the opposition parties."

However, has the DPP truly taken responsibility for the nation?

What does the DPP government want to do for Taiwan?

What has it done?

In a tug-of-war between ideals and reality and between discourse and action, I think the DPP has accomplished at least three major achievements: promoting Taiwan consciousness, consolidating national identity and constructing a national context.

In 2002, the DPP proposed that Taiwan and China were two countries on each side of the Taiwan Strait.

This stated that Taiwan was not a part of China. It was the DPP's way of turning Taiwanese sovereignty into a declaration of government policy.

This year, the party made an all-out effort to promote a UN bid using the name "Taiwan" to show the world Taiwan's determination and its hope that it can become a normal country.

Second, in 2004, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) announced that "The Republic of China [ROC] is Taiwan, and Taiwan is the Republic of China."

Based on the principle that "Taiwan is a sovereign and independent nation and does not fall under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China," Chen was clearly telling the public that the relationship between the Taiwanese and the Chinese is a relationship between the "self" and the "other."

Third, the DPP has used the principle of "taking root in Taiwan" in an attempt to consolidate a common public awareness and create an environment that is conducive to identifying with a Taiwan consciousness and then propose policies to consolidate that consciousness.

As a ruling party, the DPP has taken every opportunity to lay a strong foundation for Taiwan becoming a country in practice and one day becoming a de jure country.

It can't be denied that since the DPP took power there has been a clear discrepancy between ideals and reality.

But the DPP's administrative elite has evaluated advantages and disadvantages based on the principles of strengthening Taiwan consciousness, garnering the greatest number of votes, taking responsibility for national security and safeguarding self-determination for Taiwan.

On the road to making Taiwan a normal country, we may sometimes have to make an extra turn, stop for a while and even change our approach, but it cannot be denied that the DPP has accomplished these three achievements.

Today, the call to insist on Taiwan consciousness has won the support of many voters and has become mainstream opinion, including within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

The debate on how far the DPP should take the nation down the road toward being a normal country has weakened the party.

But we know that if the KMT, which promotes eventual unification with China, becomes the ruling party, then the goal of making Taiwan a normal country will be even more difficult to reach.

Lin Te-yu is a former employee of the Democratic Progressive Party.

Translated by Lin Ya-ti
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