Wed, Dec 31, 2003 page8

• KMT's most serious foe is too close by to notice

  • By Lee Min-yung 李敏勇
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) criminal usurpation and looting of state assets during its long rule in Taiwan have once again surfaced. After the KMT's Lien Chan (連戰) lost the 2000 presidential election, the party proposed returning its stolen assets. Words are one thing, actions are another. Being able to swallow something does not necessarily mean that it can be spit right out again.

  In the run-up to the 2000 election, then independent presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) focused many of his attacks on the KMT. Soong aimed to highlight the legitimacy of his betrayal of the party and the political conglomerate by acting as a reformer. His core supporters were of course China ideologues in the core of the KMT, a force Lien could not harness at the time. With a conservative and feudal mindset and the appearance of a reformer, Soong proved to be a popular candidate.

  But after the Chung Hsing Bills Finance embezzlement scandal was exposed, he lost the reformist facade he had worked so hard to create.

  Depending on the China ideologists in the KMT core and the local politicians with whom he had built a relationship during his terms as provincial governor was not enough to win the presidential election.

  Now Soong and his erstwhile political rival Lien have teamed up for the upcoming election. Does Soong still pretend to be a reformer?

  How does he respond to the KMT's usurpation and robbery of state assets? Of course, he is now left with only one choice -- joining forces with Lien.

  The KMT has one renowned member, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is said to be like a Teflon pan because nothing ever sticks to him. When Soong, the savior in the eyes of the KMT's China ideologists, proves not to be trustworthy, they place their hope in Ma, who has been molded as the party's ideal candidate.

  Unlike Soong, Ma is immune to any repercussions from political persecution cases such as the Kaohsiung Incident or the Chen Wen-cheng (陳文成) incident, even though Ma at the time was a close aide to former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).

  But how should Ma defend his party, as it once again has to face social criticism regarding its looting of state assets? How should he keep himself out of trouble?

  Soong's betrayal of the KMT allowed him to pretend to hold up the banner of reform.

  But since Ma, the KMT's poster boy and future star, belongs to the party, can he claim that his party is dirty while he himself is clean? Serving as the chief of the Lien-Soong campaign headquarters, he has to bear all the burdens of not only the KMT but also of Lien and Soong.

  The KMT is its own worst enemy, and there is no way it can rid itself of such an enemy. Nor can Ma break away from such an inexorable fate. What blocks the KMT's restoration to power is not just the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, but also the force of justice. That force leaves society a slim chance of survival and brings Taiwan boundless hope.

  Lee Min-yung is a poet and president of the Taiwan Peace Foundation.

  Translated by Jackie Lin
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Starlux Airlines to apply to join Oneworld alliance

  • 2

    Chinese man captured on a rubber boat

  • 3

    Manila pulls ship from Sabina Shoal

  • 4

    Trump is right about World War III, but wrong about the analysis

  • 5

    Tropical storm to bring rain later this week