In January’s presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was elected with an absolute majority, and her party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won an absolute majority of seats in the legislature.
The ringing endorsement meant that the electorate gave Tsai and the DPP complete control over the government, demonstrating the trust that voters have placed in Tsai for political, economic and social reform, as well as the expectation that the DPP would follow a path of reform.
Nevertheless, since the start of the DPP-majority legislature in February, and in the weeks since Tsai’s inauguration on May 20, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) has been guilty of all manner of governing mishaps, and this has caused the public’s faith in the government to rapidly dissipate. It has also caused people to question the government’s reformist resolve.
Two years ago, when the “touch-screen” generation initiated the online invocation of “Taiwan will never heal until the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] falls,” the phrase not only become ingrained in a very short time in mainstream opinion, but also became a rally call to secure votes against the KMT.
This rejection of the KMT, the thinking behind it and the movement that it created, helped Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) win election and facilitated the DPP’s takeover of the central government.
There has been a clear path laid out by the DPP criticizing KMT policies from national identity, national defense, foreign relations, politics, economics, society, the environment and labor policy. When the DPP was in opposition and now that it is in government, voters have approved of a reformist blueprint to rid themselves of the KMT.
The easiest way for Tsai and the DPP to govern at this juncture is to adhere tenaciously to one principle. That is, in everything it does, and as far as possible, to divorce itself from the original elements and policies of the KMT, and demonstrate the biggest possible contrast with it.
If it does that, it is sure to meet voters expectations of a DPP government, elected on a consensus of the necessity the KMT must be bought down. It would also dovetail nicely with the reality and principle of the alternation of political parties in a democratic political system.
Tsai has previously adopted a policy of seamless alignment to ensure that the nation’s needs are met. Her DPP-led government has wanted matters to proceed as smoothly as possible, with seemingly no light between it and what has come before.
At the moment, she is careful to impress upon the public her government’s intention to open all communication channels to seek consensus and proceed in the nation’s interests, to maintain social justice and instigate reform that would be advantageous to future generations.
If there is a consensus in society about this, it derives from the idea that the government can govern along the lines of the ideas and vision that Tsai and the DPP promised at the time of the elections, and not in itself with the anti-reformist policies of the KMT era, and the people, events and things of the past that have been so soundly rejected by the electorate.
The reason the public wants to hear more dialogue and communication in society is to facilitate reform, not to delay it.
The government must not lose sight of its mission and should keep to the path of reform. People do not want to see another party getting in the way of what needs to be done, or losing its way again.
Chan Chang-chuan is vice dean of National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health.
Translated by Paul Cooper
I recently traveled to Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, and Taipei as part of an annual trip organized by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. Across these cities, senior officials, policy advisors, and experts shared differing perspectives on the region’s future. One conclusion stood out: Taiwan enters the coming years from a position of growing strength. Taiwan’s economy is booming, public confidence is rising, and fears of an imminent military crisis appear to be lessening. Even so, Beijing remains committed to its long-term goal of unification across the Taiwan Strait and is gaining strength in pursuit of this objective. Taiwan therefore has
There are a number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians who still seem to be at a loss as to why the more noise they make about unification and being “one family” across the Taiwan Strait, the harder it is to gain the support of young voters. Perhaps they believe that these professions of affinity for China tap into historical sentiment and demonstrate sincerity in seeking cross-strait peace. However, they fail to see the shifts that have taken place in Taiwanese society through democratization and generational changes. Their rhetoric is not only failing to bring the two sides of the
The Taipei mayoral race that was widely believed to be a hands-down win for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) only a few months ago has taken a sudden turn. When Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), who is running in his first direct election, accepted his party’s nomination for Taipei mayor in May, his support trailed that of incumbent Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the KMT by nearly 30 percentage points, but recent polls have shown a much closer race. The first televised debate between Chiang and Shen was held on Oct. 31, giving voters a rare chance to
When I first arrived in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) for university, I was struck by the scene outside the front entrance of the main railway station. The streets were lined with signs in Vietnamese, Indonesian and Thai, and authentic Southeast Asian eateries and grocery stores stood alongside a number of jewelry stores. On weekends, migrant workers would gather there to shop and spend time with friends. It was the first time I had witnessed how deeply foreign cultures could shape a place. When talking about migrant workers with classmates and friends, many mention liking the different cuisines and recognize how they
RSS