Commenting on the Sunflower movement in May, Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) said: “Democracy alone does not provide food to eat.”
However, democracy is the only power that the poor have to protect themselves against the rich and powerful. It is because of democracy that politicians are obliged to pay attention to the lives of ordinary people and to address the issue of the distribution of wealth within a nation.
It is easy for the rich to build connections, entice cooperation, obtain high posts and enjoy “the good life.” Of course, there are rich people with a conscience and a vocation, but they are the exception: Most rich people, it seems, do not believe in the “one person, one vote” concept. And they do not care about democracy.
That being so, if you are not a rich person, you should not listen to the majority of rich and powerful, those who do not care about democracy. The man and woman on the street can only achieve reasonable wealth distribution through the exercise of their democratic rights. From this perspective, it is not a fanciful assertion to say that democracy can indeed provide food to eat.
The authoritarian Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime is the biggest threat to Taiwan’s democracy. It is trying to use business to push for “unification,” and if it succeeds, the party will deprive Taiwan of democracy.
Many of the rich and powerful people who do not care about democracy seek only their own interests, despite the risk of Taiwan being controlled by Beijing if it becomes overdependent on the Chinese market. They are rashly locking Taiwan into the “one China” market.
When elections come around, these elites try to intimidate the general public with vague threats about what will happen to the economy if voters fail to comply, while trying to tempt the public with promises of economic growth. At the same time, rich and powerful cliques try to manipulate media outlets to influence election results, helping parties and candidates that Beijing favors to win.
As a result, more politicians try to curry favor with a hegemonic China and pay less attention to the public’s needs. As the significance of each vote is devalued, the democratic system exists in name only, while people who are entitled to their democratic rights become the biggest victims.
Thus, if you are not a rich person, you should really care about democracy. You must not be shortsighted or look for instant gains and must oppose parties and politicians who are helping the CCP gain control of Taiwan, to make sure that the nation’s democracy remains vibrant and does not fade away.
This is something that many celebrities, wealthy people and media outlets will not tell you.
However, if you are a rich person, although you do not have to strive for reasonable wealth distribution through democracy, you still have to face all the certainties and uncertainties that life throws at you: aging, illness and yes, eventually death. It is advisable, then, to be charitable and cultivate your spiritual life.
Safeguarding Taiwan’s democracy to protect the general public’s democratic rights is the biggest, most important thing that you could do and will earn you merit.
You must never help parties and politicians who are unconcerned about the CCP’s control of Taiwan to do anything to the detriment of the nation’s democracy.
Otherwise, you would be doing evil, turning yourselves into Beijing’s servants, while the public can merely hope for mercy to be shown.
Chang Shyue-yih is a professor in the School of Medicine at National Yang-Ming University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in her inaugural address on May 20 firmly said: “We will not accept the Beijing authorities’ use of ‘one country, two systems’ to downgrade Taiwan and undermine the cross-strait status quo.” The Chinese government was not too happy, and later that day, an opinion piece on the Web site of China’s state broadcaster China Central Television said: “While Tsai’s first inaugural address four years ago was read by Beijing as an ‘unfinished answer sheet,’ the one she presented this time was even more below-par.” Speaking to the China Review News Agency, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies vice president
French firm DCI-DESCO in April won a bid to upgrade Taiwan’s Lafayette frigates, which has strained ties between China and France. In 1991, France sold Taiwan six Lafayette frigates and in 1992 sold it 60 Mirage 2000 fighter jets. To prevent arms sales between the nations, China negotiated an agreement with France and in 1994 in a joint statement, France promised that there would be no future arms sales to Taiwan. From China’s point of view, the DCI-DESCO deal constitutes a breach of the agreement, but the French stance is that it is not selling Taiwan new weapons, but instead providing a
EDITORIAL CARTOON
Affected by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have implemented disease prevention measures such as city lockdowns, factory closures, travel restrictions and border controls. These resulted in slowing economic activitiy and dwindling global trade, which have negatively affected Taiwan’s export-reliant economy. Consequently, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) last week revised downward its economic growth forecast for Taiwan for the second time this year. The DGBAS on Thursday predicted the nation’s GDP would expand 1.67 percent this year. The agency’s new forecast is lower than the 2.37 percent it estimated in February, and weaker than Taiwan’s economic
RSS