A DPP for all Chinese
It has been more than four years since Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) took office. Keelung has made great improvements on Lin’s watch, compared with the long rule by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) mayors in the past.
Lin’s re-election in the Nov. 24 elections last year, in which the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), suffered a crushing defeat around the nation, is clear evidence of his strength.
However, in a speech delivered at the Taiwan Center New York during his recent visit to New York City, Lin talked about the new idea of a “DPP for all Chinese.” This is both incomprehensible and suspicious in the eyes of those who support a Taiwanese identity.
For example, does any political figure in the British Conservative Party want to make the party the “Conservative Party for all Anglo-Saxons”? If anyone dares argue this way, it would be regarded as absurd by politicians in the countries that would be covered by this claim.
If Lin’s idea of a DPP for all Chinese were promoted, it would probably offend parties outside of Taiwan, such as the Malaysian Democratic Action Party and the Hong Kong Democratic Party, which can be found along the same part of the political spectrum.
The Nov. 24 defeat left supporters of a Taiwanese identity puzzled and saddened, worrying about China’s constant aggression against Taiwan, and wanting to find countermeasures to deal with the problem. This is all understandable.
However, Lin’s idea focuses on the wrong issue and provides the wrong prescription.
The main source of Taiwan’s current political, economic, social and cultural problems is the failure so far to establish boundaries for the political community and a national identity.
In terms of the legal system, laws from the Constitution and the additional articles to the Constitution on to the Criminal Code and the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), have loopholes that supporters of unification with China can manipulate.
They identify with China, and try their best to facilitate China’s invasion and annexation of Taiwan. As a result, Taiwan’s national security, social security and media need to be strengthened.
To amend the situation, we must use the remaining time of the DPP’s legislative majority — less than a year given the uncertainty of whether it will continue — to fix the relevant laws and reduce the possibility of atypical war conducted by Chinese in Taiwan, rather than proposing a vague idea about a “DPP for all Chinese.”
Otherwise, this would only leave Taiwan in an even more precarious situation, because China and its followers in Taiwan will only interpret it the DPP retreating on its national identity stance.
Hopefully Lin will do some more thinking.
Wu Che-wen
New Taipei City
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