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EDITORIAL: Can the KMT exist without China?

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) tends to get agitated whenever its opponents accuse it of being pro-China.

By taking a long, hard look at its recent conduct, however, party moderates would perhaps understand why.

Late last week, the KMT called on voters not to vote in the two referendums -- one proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party and the other its own -- that are to be held simultaneously with legislative elections on Jan. 12.

The KMT said the boycott would represent a way for voters to vent their dissatisfaction with the Central Election Commission, which the party has accused of engaging in "unfair maneuverings."

The KMT can argue all it wants to justify the boycott, but the essence of its actions remains consistent with Beijing's agenda -- discouraging people from exercising their right to have a direct say in public matters.

The last thing Beijing wants is to give Taiwanese the political space to hold referendums, lest that lead, in future, to a referendum on the question of independence itself.

During his New Year address on Monday, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said that China now has more than 1,300 missiles deployed against Taiwan. The number was a substantial increase from the 200 or so targeting Taiwan in 2000.

True to form, the KMT and its friends in the pan-blue camp had not a single word of condemnation for China's military belligerence.

The same day, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) did express regret, but at something else: Chen's directive to light up the "2008 Taiwan" message on Taipei 101 two hours before the fireworks show on New Year's Day.

The Taipei City Government may have nominal authority over what is displayed on the building and at what time, but what could be controversial about displaying the name "Taiwan," especially when the central government paid for it? Is it just a coincidence that the latest bout of KMT city government-DPP central government squabbling involved the prominence of the name?

When most of what the KMT says and does overlaps with Chinese Communist Party objectives, it is difficult not to believe that they drink from the same cup.

Though the KMT has been in Taiwan for more than 60 years, it continues to issue rhetorical signals that mark it as a stranger in this land. It is still struggling to decide on which side of the Strait its heart lies.

In the end, if the KMT wants to be taken seriously on this issue by a broad majority of voters, then the solution is simple -- ditch the "one China" policy and abandon, once and for all, the autocratic philosophy that requires China to be Taiwan's past, present and future motherland.

Only by genuinely becoming a local party in word and practice -- one that identifies with explicitly Taiwanese interests -- will it be able to put to rest suspicions that its ultimate function is to act as Beijing's fifth column.
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