We can understand the desperation of the KMT in the face of the most severe challenge to its 54 years of power posed by the DPP and its presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (
The ad combines shots of Chen speaking to a rally with documentary footage of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. It then links the DPP's call for a peaceful change of power to the outbreak of WW II.
It concludes by saying that alternation of parties is dangerous if you change to the wrong party: if voters elect the DPP, they will be inviting a fascistic dictatorship and war with China.
The latter accusation has become the leitmotiv of the KMT campaign. But claiming themselves as the defenders of democracy and the DPP as "fascists," displays an astonishing lack of historical self-knowledge.
Could it be that the KMT's propagandists have really forgotten about the "Blue Shirts", an explicitly fascist organization within the KMT under Chiang Kai-shek's (蔣介石) direction? Or the feared secret police of Tai Li (戴笠) and the murders they committed -- a tradition that continued with the Feb. 28, 1980 murders of the mother and two daughters of now-DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄)? Or that Chiang hired Nazi generals and Italian fascist air force officers as advisors?
The attraction of the KMT political culture toward fascism was reflected by the fact that not a few KMT leaders became major figures in the pro-Japan-ese puppet government in Nanking during the war.
Are we to regard the Feb. 28th Incident, the "white terror," 38 years of martial law, innumer-able violations of basic human and political rights, thousands of political prisoners and strict control of the media as characteristics of a democracy?
Quite a few features of the KMT's fascistic system remain intact nearly 13 years after the lifting of the martial law. One example is the control over trade unions -- the government supported and guided Chinese Federation of Labor is a direct descendant of the KMT's "yellow" unions of the Nanking period.
In its desperation, the KMT has grossly distorted history and insulted the participants in Tai-wan's movement for democracy and human rights, not to mention the rest of the voters. As the KMT has yet to officially face up to, much less overcome, its fascist legacy, its leaders should refrain from accusing others of fascism.
As another KMT ad recently advised, the party should shave its own face before it comments on the appearance of others.
Dennis Engbarth is a free lance journalist based in Taipei.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
RSS