There is a saying that "outsiders wait for something exciting to happen, while insiders know what the true stories are" (外行人看熱鬧,內行人看門道). The proverb best illustrates the mentality of Taiwanese politicians.
The media serve as a stage for cunning politicians to play political games, but these can only be seen clearly by perceptive audiences. The people in power, who have a fairly different perception of politics from outsiders, know exactly how to attract media attention so they can become the focal point of society.
It is obvious that James Soong's (
At first, evidence about the case was handed to Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) camp. Even though they saw clearly that the KMT's intention was to use them to attack Soong, Chen's camp was still eager to boost its own campaign morale. But at the last minute, Chen's camp decided not to get involved because they considered the evidence insufficient.
Not wanting to lose this opportunity to attack Soong, the KMT asked a not so reputable KMT legislator, Yang Chi-hsiung (楊吉雄), to bring the scandal to light. Apparently, the KMT did not anticipate the backlash from the incident, otherwise they would have selected someone with more public credibility.
When the scandal broke, Soong was clearly caught off guard. Based on Soong's response at his first press conference, the KMT was able to dig up even more harmful evidence. Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) supporters all rejoiced over this unexpected victory.
At the press conference, Soong shifted all the blame to Lee, who was so infuriated that he cursed Soong, wishing he would "die young" (夭壽). This was a very harsh term for Lee to use, especially as he once said to a friend that he had never used such a term to curse another person.
In the last presidential election in 1996, KMT members Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) and Lin Yang-kang (林洋港) also ran in the election against the party's will. Lee was not particularly hard on them for this, for he knew they presented no threat. Besides, both sides had gone their separate ways long before the presidential election, so Lee just let them play their own innocuous game.
But the situation between Lee and Soong is very different. Lee used to treat Soong like his own son, so Soong's insistence on taking part in the election, regardless of the party's objections, has hurt Lee's feelings tremendously.
Soong was one of the people who worked to consolidate Lee's position during the early days, and any political rivals of Lee would also be rivals of Soong. When Soong served as the KMT secretary general, the anti-Lee Teng-hui New KMT Alliance (新國民黨連線) considered Soong their primary enemy. However, Soong in general was not on good terms with many political leaders. The pro-Lee Thoughts-Gathering Alliance (集思會) didn't like him; Frederick Chien (錢復), John Kuan (關中), Chen Lu-an(陳履安) and John Chang (章孝嚴) didn't like him. Nobody was in harmony with him. He barely had any friends in the central government.
Politicians like to say that "politics is a game for the moment, but friendship lasts forever" (政治是一時的,朋友是永遠的). The point is that the essence of politics is selfish; if financial interests are involved, friendship can easily be ruined. Conflicts arising from different values and beliefs can be resolved, while conflicts based on a clash of interests are less easy to resolve.
Soong's run in the presidential election officially put a period to his relationship with Lee and his followers. In fact, Soong should have been prepared to lose all his connections. But so far, he seems to be surviving pretty well, and this has greatly surprised the KMT. Both Wu Poh-Hsiung (吳伯雄) and Liu Sung-pan (劉松藩) have financial difficulties, so they can't offer Soong much financial support. Moreover, they both are still watched by the KMT, so it is not easy for them to break free from the party's dominance. As for other business organizations, they have to be very cautious before placing bets on Soong while the result is still so uncertain.
The media, as mentioned above, provides politicians with the best stage. Since Soong can't give a reasonable explanation for the huge funds in his son's bank account, his best strategy is to divert public attention. Or he can turn the tables and try to blur the political and judicial issues. If it were turned into a judicial issue, then he wouldn't have to responsd. The media only creates a short-lived sensation. Most journalists only know how to chase after the news, they don't know how to dig into real issues. If a new topic is brought up, the old subject will be dropped. Therefore, journalists are often fooled by politicians, but think they are satisfying the audience's thirst for the truth.
How to define the media's role in politics is an interesting issue, but the fact that the media is frequently tricked by politicians is even more interesting.
Antonio Chiang is the publisher of the Taipei Times.
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