There is a general consensus among Taiwan watchers that next month’s presidential election will be pivotal for the country’s future.
Consequently, hopes have been high for presidential campaigns that provide substance on topics such as relations with China, the economy and a number of environmental issues.
Sadly for all involved, the party that from the onset had insisted it would run a “clean” and “responsible” campaign has failed to abide by its commitment and has chosen instead to turn to the past — the distant past, in some cases — as it attempts to tarnish the image of its resurgent opponent.
It is little wonder that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would say over the weekend that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), having no accomplishments to show for in its nearly four years in office, had chosen instead to launch an all-out attack on her and her party.
Whether the KMT has anything to boast about is a matter of opinion, but one thing that is beyond debate is the fact that the party seems to be panicking amid signs that the DPP could very well win next month’s elections, something that had seemed impossible only a few years ago.
How else could we explain a presidential campaign that, rather than look to the future, would launch into what can only be described as an infantile attack on DPP vice presidential candidate Su Jia-chyuan’s (蘇嘉全) wife, Hung Heng-chu (洪恆珠), for attending a party where male strippers and cross-dressers provided entertainment — nearly a decade ago?
KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅), who masterminded the attack on Hung, is running for a legislative seat in Greater Kaohsiung. The self-proclaimed “king of lawsuits” never shies from shooting from the hip to undermine his opponents, but it is difficult to see how such a strategy could possibly help him get elected. Rather than make proposals on how to improve the lives of his would-be constituents, Chiu went on the offensive, using the media as a pulpit by which to tarnish the DPP’s image at every opportunity.
This begs the question whether Chiu is a rogue KMT candidate or has been unleashed with his party’s — and ultimately Ma’s — blessing. Either way, this reflects badly on Ma’s re-election campaign, highlighting desperation or the president’s inability to control his foot soldiers.
As if what adults do behind closed doors were not enough for the KMT, it has now rehashed an old controversy over Tsai’s role in the creation of Yu Chang Biologics Co. Why it waited so long before going public with accusations that Tsai profited illegally from the company — barely one month before the elections — can only mean one thing: The KMT is growing desperate and will grasp at anything to achieve its ends. Realizing that its repeated attempts to drag Tsai down because of her associations with former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) were paying few dividends, the KMT had to find something else.
Farmhouses, strippers and now Tsai’s role in Yu Chang are the result of that desperation, each of which failed utterly to address the issues and challenges facing the nation. Such levels of baseness have not gone unnoticed, with even media that are characteristically inclined toward the KMT, such as the China Post, crying foul over what is turning into a risible, if not scandalous, campaign.
And of course, Chiu has acted as the attack dog in all three instances. With such clowns involving themselves in the electoral campaign, who could blame those in China who have shown interest in the election’s proceedings for being cynical about the virtues of democracy?
China’s supreme objective in a war across the Taiwan Strait is to incorporate Taiwan as a province of the People’s Republic. It follows, therefore, that international recognition of Taiwan’s de jure independence is a consummation that China’s leaders devoutly wish to avoid. By the same token, an American strategy to deny China that objective would complicate Beijing’s calculus and deter large-scale hostilities. For decades, China has cautioned “independence means war.” The opposite is also true: “war means independence.” A comprehensive strategy of denial would guarantee an outcome of de jure independence for Taiwan in the event of Chinese invasion or
A recent Taipei Times editorial (“A targeted bilingual policy,” March 12, page 8) questioned how the Ministry of Education can justify spending NT$151 million (US$4.74 million) when the spotlighted achievements are English speech competitions and campus tours. It is a fair question, but it focuses on the wrong issue. The problem is not last year’s outcomes failing to meet the bilingual education vision; the issue is that the ministry has abandoned the program that originally justified such a large expenditure. In the early years of Bilingual 2030, the ministry’s K-12 Administration promoted the Bilingual Instruction in Select Domains Program (部分領域課程雙語教學實施計畫).
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) earlier this month said it is necessary for her to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and it would be a “huge boost” to the party’s local election results in November, but many KMT members have expressed different opinions, indicating a struggle between different groups in the party. Since Cheng was elected as party chairwoman in October last year, she has repeatedly expressed support for increased exchanges with China, saying that it would bring peace and prosperity to Taiwan, and that a meeting with Xi in Beijing takes priority over meeting
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