The real threat to the ROC
In 1994, when Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) ran for Taipei mayor, his slogan was: “Republic of China to Battle.”
In 2000, the presidential election resulted in the first transition of power. The deep blues were in mourning and thought that it was the end of the Republic of China (ROC).
However, even though Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won two consecutive elections, the ROC continues to exist.
DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) advocates maintaining the “status quo” under the ROC constitutional system and promises to keep peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. In other words, after she is elected, she will not allow those three words — Republic of China — to be extinguished.
Ironically, people within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) continue to chime in with China’s point of view, advocating the idea that there is “one China, with both sides having the same interpretation” of what that China is, that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to “one China” and that there will be eventual unification with China, without seeming to realize that it would mean the end of the Republic of China. This is because the People’s Republic of China (PRC) replaced the ROC when it joined the UN in 1971 and it became the only government to legitimately represent China.
“One China” means the PRC and that would of course continue to be the nation’s name after unification.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) has characterized the ongoing drama within the KMT of replacing the party’s presidential candidate, Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), as a matter of national salvation at a critical moment in time.
To borrow a phrase that Chen often used during his presidency: Is it really that important?
Transitions of power are the norm in a democracy.
Who asked the KMT to get involved in such fierce infighting?
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has led Taiwan into a mess, into a terrible condition.
The public wants change: If they cannot do their job properly, the public should change the people and the party in charge, and see if it helps.
Hsu Meng-pi
Taipei
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