Although running for the presidency nearly three decades after the end of the Martial Law era, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) seems to be unable to forget the party’s “glorious” authoritarian past.
Yesterday marked the 27th anniversary of the death of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) — along with Chu — traveled to Chiang’s mausoleum in Taoyuan’s Dasi Township (大溪) to pay their respects.
At the event, both Ma and Chu praised Chiang’s contributions to Taiwan, with Chu urging all KMT members to stand together — keep Chiang’s spirit in mind — and work hard right until the end of the campaign.
“The spirit of Chiang,” was the virtue of being able to face up to challenges and difficulties, Chu said, adding that as then-premier Chiang in 1974 announced the “10 Major Construction Projects,” which seemed an “impossible” task at first, but were eventually completed.
It is somewhat chastening that Chu — the KMT’s chairman and presidential candidate — is openly praising such an authoritarian leader.
Chiang Ching-kuo succeeded his father, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), as the leader of both the KMT and the nation after his father’s death.
He might have appeared to be a little more open-minded, but he showed no reluctance in repressing the pro-democracy movement, while interfering in elections to generate favorable results for the governing party.
He was involved in the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979, in which several political dissidents, such as former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Haung Hsin-chieh (黃信介), veteran activist Shih Ming-te (施明德), former Examination Yuan president Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), and Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) were arrested, tried in a military court and given harsh sentences.
In addition, a person — whose identity still remains unknown — broke into former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung’s (林義雄) house and stabbed his 60-year-old mother and twin daughters to death in 1980.
In 1984, writer Henry Liu (劉宜良), who had migrated to the US and became a naturalized US citizen, was shot to death at his own home in California by a gunman sent by a military intelligence agency in Taiwan, allegedly because he was writing a biography of Chiang Ching-kuo that exposed issues that the government did not want the public to know about.
Aside from repression of political dissident, Chiang Ching-kuo did not have the democratic process in mind when it came to making major decisions either.
Late economics minister Li Kwoh-ting (李國鼎) — who served in Chiang Ching-kuo’s Cabinet — said that no one knew about the launch of the 10 Major Construction Projects until Chiang Ching-kuo made the formal announcement.
Chu seems to have the same mindset when it comes to making policy decisions.
On Tuesday, when asked by al-Jazeera about her stance on cross-strait relations, DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in English: “It’s a matter of communication, communication and communication.”
Chu later criticized Tsai’s remark, saying that a national leader must be determined and should not always try to solve problems via meetings and communication.
Is there anything wrong with a democratically elected leader attending meetings and communicating with different parties when it comes to solving problems?
If making unilateral decisions and the veneration of a dictator are what Chu advocates during his election campaign, it is a relief he is unlikely to be voted in as the KMT’s next autocratic ruler on Saturday.
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US