Wed, Dec 26, 2007 page3

• KMT, DPP using CKS to instill fear: Demos Chiang

  • STAFF WRITER
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  The great-grandson of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) yesterday said he agreed to a certain degree with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government's recent moves to purge the remnants of his great-grandfather's rule as it would prevent the DPP from using his family's name as a tool to "control fear" in the public in the future.

  Dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt, Demos Chiang (蔣友柏) made the comments at a press conference to announce the launch of his blog, baimu yiyan (白木怡言), a play on one of the characters in his Chinese name.

  The young Chiang said that when he first heard of the "de-Chiang" movement, he felt a tinge of sadness, but the feeling quickly subsided once he was able to see the bigger picture.

  "I discovered that no one from the pan-green camp was talking about getting rid of Chiang, but the terms were both tossed around by the pan-blues. Both the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] are not used to employing positive tactics to win elections," he was quoted as saying in a Central News Agency report yesterday.

  In his view, neither party is equipped to bring hope to the public. Instead, politicians from both sides are skilled in manipulating the "fear" factor to drum up support by "scaring" voters.

  The product designer also threw his weight behind the government's decision to replace the inscription on the former Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, saying getting rid of the inscription and that changing the name to National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall would leave the DPP "one less target" to attack his family.

  "The DPP obviously used the hall controversy as one its major election strategies, but somehow the KMT linked the issue with fear," the CNA report quoted him as saying. "In this whole mess, the posterity of Chiang Kai-shek became the biggest casualty."

  He did not spare the pan-blue or some of his family members in his criticism.

  "The KMT has lost its ability to self-regulate," he said. "It feels the need to be immersed in self-approval and has a difficult time pulling itself out of it. It doesn't dare and isn't willing to let go of the concepts that were deeply ingrained in it."

  "The KMT wants to preserve the hall in order to keep the past glory alive. It could also use the issue to mobilize the pan-blue voters by making them think their spiritual leader is being sabotaged. This is an effective and economic efficient way to boost its popularity," he said.

  Chiang also said it would be in the DPP's interest to leave the hall and his great-grandfather's statue alone so "it could use it to solidify the pan-green voters" in every election.

  He said he had advised his mother to remain neutral on the issue. Without naming any names, he said those members of the Chiang family who chose to sit on one side of the fence did so out of "self-serving political interests."

  Commenting on the recent debate on the relocation of his great-grandfather and grandfather's mausoleums, he said whether the two men were recognized as the ex-presidents of the Republic of China or Taiwan, it was an undeniable fact that they are an integral part of the nation's history.

  "In that case, we should follow the precedent set by the late president Yen Chia-kan [嚴家淦] by relocating their tombs to Wuchihshan," he said. "But if the government is unwilling to do it, then the entire matter becomes a family affair and should be dealt solely by the family."

  He said he never wanted and would never join the KMT, but he was obligated to comment on the party's conduct because it "has done many things that affect my family and the generations that follow."

  From now on, he said, his blog would be his only conduit to express his political views and he would decline all interviews related to politics.

  Additional reporting by Jenny W. Hsu

  Also See: EDITORIAL: Chiang Kai-shek's party favor
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