Mon, Oct 08, 2001 page8

• Editorial: Lee must explain his turn-around

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  This week the confrontation between Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and the KMT is set to become more vicious as Lee goes to campaign in Tainan while Lien Chan (連戰) goes on the stump in Kaohsiung and Pingtung. So far, the KMT's containment strategy has been relatively low key -- a letter to party members to explain why Lee had been kicked out and the publication in the afternoon papers yesterday of an open letter from former presidential spokesman Ting Yuan-chao (丁遠超) which concentrated on the emotional suffering that Lee's behavior has caused his former colleagues. To Ting's letter all we have to say is: grow up and behave like adults. It ill becomes the party of 228 and the White Terror to lay claim to sensibilities so delicate and exquisite.

  There have of course been the usual "senior party members" speaking anonymously suggesting that Lee is senile. His rabble-rousing performances on the stump give the lie to that. But not all KMT criticism is easily dismissed. For example, one of the most telling parts of Ting's open letter was his pointing out that Lee had vilified Huang Chu-wen's (黃主文) performance as interior minister in the wake of a lackluster performance following the 921 earthquake, yet now Huang is a fine fellow and one of the few capable of "saving Taiwan." Of course this argument works not only for party renegade Huang but for many others in the KMT. Lee told us that Lien was the very quintessence of effective leadership material, both during Lien's time as premier, in the election in 1996 and even before the election last year. Now we are told that he is "pathetic." Did Lee just discover this? After working with the man for 12 years?

  The KMT has many powerful weapons in its armory to aim at Lee. These include its relations with the media -- which for the most part remains in the KMT conservative camp -- and the business world, starving Lee and those he supports of funds. But by far the most effective weapon in the KMT camp is the question of why Lee has changed his tune so radically in the past year.

  Some have suggested that it is because he has been personally angered by the KMT's refusal to pursue the Chung Hsing Bills Finance case against James Soong (宋楚瑜). This is a calumny against Lee, trying to suggest that Lee is motivated not out of concern for the country, but by personal revenge. Actually what bothers Lee is what should bother any-body with a liberal conscience in Taiwan, that the KMT, refusing to accept its defeat in the election last year, has conspired with the Chinese Communists to regain power in such a way as to fundamentally weaken Taiwan's democratic institutions. But it is those whose careers Lee nurtured who are responsible for this. If he knew that they were only paying lip-service to his "Taiwan first" policy during his days as party chairman, why did he not purge them? If he didn't know, why didn't he? What does this tell us about his judgment?

  Let us be quite clear here. This paper is broadly supportive of Lee's aims and believes that the KMT's dalliance with the Chinese Communists is a clear and present danger to Taiwan. So we do not ask these questions of Lee rhetorically, to show up inconsistencies in his position. We ask them because they are there, and for Lee's campaigning with the TSU to pack the necessary punch to destroy the Pan-blue (or is it red?) camp on Dec. 1, they need to be answered. Getting on a stage and calling the KMT "bastards" as he did last week is very amusing. But it does not answer the questions about the contradictions in his own position that weaken his cause. Such answers are needed and time is running out.
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