Not long ago, PFP Chairman James Soong (
"This is never a place where not even birds would lay eggs," Chen said after he arrived in Senegal. "What a big misunderstanding! [Soong] really doesn't understand the situation." He even said, "All the birds that I saw here do lay eggs. Have you seen any bird here that doesn't lay eggs?"
In response, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
How ridiculous it is for these party leaders to quarrel in such a manner. It is pathetic for the chair-men of the two major opposition parties to keep on criticizing Chen in such a merciless manner after their defeat in the 2000 presidential election. Although Chen is the president, he couldn't bear this and fired back at the two opposition leaders.
What Soong needs to do first is to learn from former premier Hau Pei-tsun (
Apart from the dispute between the three parties over the "egg" remarks, the media also reported that Chen said that the Lien-Soong cooperation is a road to ruin. This made the two opposition parties very unhappy. Lien hit back and said, "The DPP is just like the sun sinking in the west, as the DPP government's days are numbered." This may be a joke. But it is really unsuitable for a party leader to provoke a rival party by saying that its days are numbered.
After carefully examining the reports in the three major Chinese-language newspapers on July 6, I found that the China Times was the main source of misunderstanding. The newspaper wrote, "Chen said that the time is ripe for the establishment of a cross-party `alliance for national stabilization.' The operation [of the alliance] will be smooth, and it will become better and better. He also pointed out that the ties between those two people [Lien and Soong] are on a road to ruin and their good fortune has run out."
In fact, this was not the case. From both the Liberty Times and the United Daily News we know that Chen clearly said that the above remarks were made by some KMT and PFP legislators, as well as a KMT heavyweight.
The Liberty Times said, "The president pointed out that many KMT and PFP lawmakers told him through certain channels that they had been frustrated by the `one-man leadership' within their parties and disappointed for not being able to participate in the decision-making processes. Moreover, they deeply disagree with the Lien-Soong cooperation and believe that they are taking the road to ruin by repeatedly engaging in confrontations between the ruling and opposition camps.
Some KMT lawmakers even clearly said that the Lien-Soong cooperation has led the ruling and opposition camps to countless confrontations -- which not only goes against the people's expectation but is also leading the KMT to self-destruction."
Meanwhile, the United Daily News quoted Chen as saying, "I talked to a very high-level KMT leader about the future of his party. This man told me that the whole `pan-blue' camp is solely controlled by Lien and Soong. But what about the others?" The daily also him as saying quoted, "This man told me that the KMT will be digging its own grave if the situation continues. In fact, this is unbearable for many people inside the KMT. If everything is decided by Lien and Soong only, more people will leave the KMT in the future."
On July 7, it seemed that the China Times was trying to indirectly correct its previous report, as the paper wrote, "In response to newspaper reports, Chen said during a lunch with some Taiwanese lawmakers that he never called the Lien-Soong cooperation a road to ruin."
The three papers published very different reports about the matter. The China Times even reported that Chen said that the two opposition parties are heading for self-destruction. Nevertheless, no matter what, party leaders should not react emotionally to newspaper reports. This is not rational at all. What can such political leaders bring us except political chaos?
Looking back at Chen's words, although he did not say that the Lien-Soong cooperation is a road to ruin, his recount of such a statement was improper -- since he is the head of the state and will soon become the DPP chairman. He therefore has to take the responsibility for the misunderstanding. Chen should also refrain from criticizing the opposition parties too much. But it seems that he always comes up with such harmful words on similarly inappropriate occasions. This is good for neither the development of party politics nor the stabilization of the nation. The goodwill that he has repeatedly expressed would also be neutralized under such circumstances.
I hope that Taiwan's political leaders, especially party leaders, will talk more rationally instead of quarreling. Soong must apologize to our African allies. Also, I urge Chen to be magnanimous and leave some leeway when he speaks. Moreover, I hope that Lien, who was previously believed to have a dignified bearing, can stop attacking others at will.
Chiu Hei-yuan is a research fellow in the Institute of Sociology at the Academia Sinica.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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