In democracies, peaceful transition of political power is taken for granted. The same does not go for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), for whom the loss of power is more than just a blow to the party — it is also the death of the nation.
With the nation on a path to further democratization, the phrase “If the party dies, the nation would perish,” is often used to intimidate party members and the public.
The KMT’s legislative and presidential candidates often use such language as a political weapon.
The loss of political power in China is the origin of the KMT’s decline. Overthrown by a revolution, the KMT government in China was replaced by another one-party state. The zero-sum game played by the two competing parties meant that the KMT could not simply relinquish power, so it took the Republic of China (ROC) and fled to Taiwan.
Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) used the phrase “If the party dies, the nation would perish” as a warning to KMT members and ROC officials.
To oppose the Chinese Communist Party, Chiang created a one-party state in Taiwan, but the Communist “thieves,” as he called them, eventually became the legitimate rulers of China.
After the myth of retaking China turned into a lie, a multitude of restrictions previously imposed by the party-state were removed.
One-party rule was incompatible with Taiwan’s democratic development, but to maintain its monopoly on political power, the KMT resorted to using dirty tactics during elections. It repeatedly rigged elections and bought votes. The state of decay in Taiwanese politics stems from the depraved policies of the KMT.
The party reasoned that it had to win elections by whatever means necessary, leaving itself with a poor track record in this respect.
No one knows how much money former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) and other KMT members spent campaigning for the 2000 presidential election.
However, even money has limited power, so when People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) defected from the KMT to form his own party, he split the pan-blue vote and gifted the election to Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
There was no way the KMT could tolerate that. Luckily for the KMT, Chen failed to implement a program of transitional justice while he was in power, so the KMT was able to stage a comeback and settle the score, meting out revenge to defectors.
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) two electoral victories were the last gasps of a dying party.
Did the public misjudge Ma? Or did they perhaps allow themselves to be fooled? Whichever it was, Ma has led his party into a dead end.
Of course a political party must strive to gain office. This is what politics is all about. However, it is wrong to seek office at any cost — and to view the ROC as a fiefdom.
It is the party-state logic that led the KMT to flee China and settle in Taiwan. Perhaps this is because its political rivals in China were pursuing authoritarian policies: China was on the way to becoming a one-party state and sharing political power was simply impossible. Therefore, the KMT felt obliged to emulate the Chinese political model in Taiwan.
However, it cannot play that game any longer.
The KMT’s lust for power forms the basis of the false premise that the nation would perish if the party died.
It is for this reason that a party that was once welcomed by Taiwanese is now hated and despised.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Edward Jones
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