Tue, Mar 14, 2000 page10

• Not all crows are the same shade of black

  • By Dennis Engbarth
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  The most important election in Taiwan's history has sadly become dominated by extensive use of negative campaigning tactics that aim to persuade voters against casting ballots for rival candidates through the time-honored tradition of mudslinging or, in Taiwan political language, "painting black (抹黑)."

  The usual motive behind mudslinging is to convince voters that "all the crows are the same shade of black" (天下烏鴉一般黑) and to imply that the crow with the deepest color -- and the longest experience in being "black" in this sense -- may the best qualified to lead the flock.

  In the current campaign, there is little if no debate about which party is most closely associated in the public eye with "black gold" corruption. In its 54 years of power just in Taiwan, the KMT maintained institutional corruption in the era of the authoritarian party-state and fostered pervasive "black gold" money politics to retain power in the post-martial law period.

  Lien Chan (連戰) has endeavored to shake off the bad image from this legacy by vowing to "declare all-out war on "black gold" politics and to implement "sunshine" reforms on Jan. 2. Most polls showed that few voters took Lien's conversion seriously.

  Moreover, Lien's own actions -- notably his decision to share campaign platforms with such notables as ex-convict legislator Wu Tse-yuan (伍澤元) of Pingtung County, reputed "Tientaomen" (天道盟) gang spiritual leader Lo Fu-chu (羅福助) of Taipei County and Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味). Whether Lien discussed his war strategy with these notables is worthy of question.

  The case of mainland-born former Taiwan Provincial Governor and ex-KMT secretary-general James Soong (宋楚瑜) appears more complex given Soong's effort to package himself as a "reformer" despite his role in helping to repress the tang wai (黨外) grassroots opposition movement in the late 1970s and 1980s.

  But the Chung Hsin Bills (中興票券) Finance scandal exposed a previously dimly perceived darker side to Soong's record as KMT secretary-general and Taiwan provincial governor that has yet to be adequately addressed. Only the declaration of support for Soong by former justice minister and Investigation Bureau chief Liao Cheng-hao (廖正豪) helped stem the outflow of support from the Soong campaign.

  Despite Liao's image as an anti-corruption fighter, the color scheme in the ex-KMT secretary-general's camp seems to be taking on tints all too similar to that of the KMT candidate.

  Last week, Soong gained the support of KMT Taichung County assembly speaker Yen Ching-piao (顏清標), who joins other controversial figures such as former Legislative Yuan speaker Liu Sung-fan (劉松蕃), a major faction leader in Taichung County and former chairman of the Taichung Business Bank and important witness in the Kuang San enterprise stock default scandal.

  The competition between Lien and Soong for the "loyalty" of politicians such as Yen Ching-piao or Chang Jung-wei does little to bolster public confidence in the likelihood of either candidate ringing in a new era of clean government. Lamented Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) last Friday: "The only people standing up for candidates are corrupt politicians."

  Lee's observation was accompanied by his decision on Friday to stand beside DPP candidate and former Taipei Mayor Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

  Chen, the only one of the five candidates who does not reek of paternalism, has urged the Taiwan people to take history into their own hands and "dump gang and money politics and protect democracy" by ousting the KMT. Reliable indicators show a high degree of popular confidence in Chen's determination and capability to deal with vote buying, root out "black gold" corruption and improve social order and public safety.

  Certainly, claims by any politician or party -- in any country -- to be pristine should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism and few would claim that Chen's administration was defect-free.

  Nevertheless, despite being under a virtual microscope for over five years, accusations against Chen for corruption have not had "sticking power." Charges by "independent" legislator Lin Jui-tu (林瑞圖) regarding an abortive Taipei City lottery have not had the credibility as the charges leveled against Soong.

  The more interesting issue is why -- given claims that the DPP has become "KMT-ized" -- there have been so few accusations against senior DPP politicians that have "stuck."

  Part of the reason lies in the history of the DPP and its predecessor of the tang wai grassroots democratic movement. One factor was the intense supervision of the democratic opposition by the Taiwan Garrison Command (警備總部), the Investigation Bureau, the KMT controlled media and other agencies directed at tang wai activists and its few elected officials.

  The DPP's willingness to take crucial actions -- even at a cost to itself -- indicates that, for all its shortcomings, it is still far from being entirely "KMT-ized." It will not be easy for the DPP to imitate the notable record of the KMT given the likelihood of intense supervision by the media and the KMT in its possible new role as an opposition party.

  This may be one reason why, despite the vast quantity of mud being slung at him, Chen received a vote of confidence from Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh on Friday.

  Just as the attraction of politicians of the stripe of Pingtung County's Wu Tseh-yuan and Taichung County's Yen Ching-piao to Lien and Soong, the decision by Lee and other members of Chen's new "National Policy Advisory" team points to the validity of another proverb: "Birds of a feather flock together."

  Dennis Engbarth (安德毅) is a freelance journalist in Taipei.
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