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ANALYSIS: Outcry over Kuo will last: pundits

In the wake of the controversy caused by former Toronto-based Government Information Office official Kuo Kuan-ying, protesters hold placards and banners condemning racism in Kaohsiung City yesterday. PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Tuesday broke his silence on former Toronto-based Government Information Office (GIO) official Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英) after 14 days, condemning his online articles smearing Taiwan and Taiwanese.

Ma at the time said he hoped the controversy would end, but analysts who believe the president’s comment was too little, too late said the controversy was unlikely to end anytime soon.

After repeated denials, Kuo last week admitted that he had written the controversial articles under the pen name Fan Lan-chin (范蘭欽). The articles say, among other things, that “[China] should spend many years suppressing [people in Taiwan] instead of granting any political freedom [to them] once it has taken Taiwan by force.”

Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said a person whose remarks incited ethnic hatred should be condemned, but emphasized that Kuo’s articles had been published between 2005 and 2007, when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was in power.

He also said that the controversy over Kuo’s remarks was the result of “provocation by some politicians.”

Criticizing Wang as “arrogant,” Hawang Shiow-duan (黃秀端), a political science professor at Soochow University, said Wang was implying the DPP was to blame for the articles.

Hawang said she believed there were more government officials like Kuo who have not “come out of the political closet.”

Hawang said the legislative by-election in Taipei City’s Da-an District had been among the factors contributing to Ma’s decision to come forward.

“Ma might have seen that the matter has gotten out of hand and that it was necessary for him to come out and say something,” Hawang said.

While Ma said he would like to see the controversy end here, Hawang said that whether it would end would hinge on Kuo’s attitude, pointing out that Kuo had continued to make contentious remarks in Toronto, as in an interview with ETTV on Wednesday in which he called himself a “hero.”

Chao Yung-mao (趙永茂), a political science professor at National Taiwan University, agreed that yesterday’s Da-an by-election “more or less” played a role in Ma’s comments.

Following the KMT’s defeat in a legislative by-election in Miaoli, it sought to court centrist voters and KMT sympathizers, Chao said.

The controversy over Kuo’s articles was not over, he said, because the issue would be mentioned repeatedly in elections and the investigation into the matter was not finished.

Career civil servants must remain politically neutral, Chao said, adding that Kuo would have had full freedom of speech had he not been a civil servant.

Joseph Tsai (蔡榮祥), a political science professor at National Chung Cheng University, said Ma’s decision to denounce Kuo had more to do with his own sliding approval rating.

“Most politicians are selfish. They usually do whatever is best for them. His approval rating has dropped to 28 percent, so it would be a good idea for him to do a little bit of damage control here, or he will be held responsible if Kuo continues to stir up controversy,” Tsai said.

Tsai said he believed Kuo was not the only “Fan Lan-chin” in the government.

Although Kuo was free to advocate unification with China, racist remarks could not be tolerated, Tsai said.
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