Question of loyalty causes controversy in the legislature

A KMT legislator yesterday took Premier Yu Shi-kun to task over a poll of DPP and TSU legislators that paints senior opposition figures as unpatriotic and ready to sell out Taiwan to China.

KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) are named as the least patriotic politicians in the country, according to the poll of 39 pan-green legislators carried out by the legislature's Alliance for the Opposition to Selling Out Taiwan (反賣台聯盟).

Responding to the poll, KMT Legislator Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝) questioned Yu on the legislative floor about the survey and asked the premier to define the term "patriotism."

"Could you tell me, sir, do you consider it patriotic if someone transfers his business accounts or financial investments from Taiwan to China?" Chu asked, alluding to presidential adviser Hsu Wen-lung's (許文龍) financial dealings.

Chu then raised the question of former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) patriotism in light of his controversial statement that the disputed Tiaoyutai Islands belong to Japan.

Refusing to comment on the subject, the premier said only that he respected individuals' freedom of speech.

Unsatisfied with the answer, Chu painted the Presidential Office as the "command center for selling out Taiwan" and the Executive Yuan as a "conglomerate for selling out Taiwan."

According to the survey, Soong received the highest score among those who were seen as collaborating with China to sell out Taiwan, ahead of Ma and Lien.

Soong was also ranked as the politician who would most enjoy sending Taiwan to its doom, followed by Lien and Ma.

Ma, however, was seen as China's favorite candidate for the position of chief executive in a future special administrative region of Taiwan, should Taiwan unify with China according to the "one country, two systems" formula used for Hong Kong.

Other front-runners for the job were Soong, Lien, KMT Vice Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), KMT Legislator John Chang (章孝嚴) and independent lawmaker Sisy Chen (陳文茜).

The alliance's survey was conducted just days after the legislature's Alliance for Civil Stability (國民安定聯盟) released an opinion poll of 33 KMT and PFP legislators.

The three best-performing government officials, according to this poll, were either from the opposition camp or former KMT members. The worst-performing government officials were all from the DPP.

In related news, the premier yesterday used the legislative session to throw his weight behind the government's planned loyalty checks on government workers.

"Loyalty checks on certain government employees are necessary because we have to make sure that those holding sensitive positions are loyal to the country," he said.

The plan is definitely not intended to cause a return to the days of White Terror, Yu said, because Taiwan is no longer an authoritarian regime and the implementation of the law may be scrutinized by the public.

KMT Legislator Sung Kauo-hwa (孫國華), who questioned Yu over the issue, however, criticized the plan as a means of "systematically dividing and persecuting such minority groups as mainlanders."