On Saturday last week, former vice president Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) won the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairperson election after receiving more than half of the votes, beating KMT Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) — a former Taipei mayor and minister of the Environmental Protection Administration — and three others.
Wu won significantly more votes than the other candidates. His victory means the KMT will have a Taiwanese-born chairperson. Hung’s and Hau’s supporters might disagree, but this is an irreversible trend.
Although he joined the KMT at a young age and remained loyal to the party, Wu has yet to gain the trust of all party members — just like former president and KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). This is normal in elections: Everyone gets one vote and not everyone gets what they want.
Following the KMT’s defeat by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in last year’s presidential and legislative elections, the rise of politicians who identify with Taiwan is a new political reality that supporters of the old KMT party-state ideology must learn to accept, regardless of the emotional difficulty.
The political trend is that the KMT will be led by Taiwanese.This is different from Lee, who became KMT chairman because he succeeded Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) as president.
Furthermore, the Republic of China (ROC) is being ruled by a Taiwanese and a non-KMT member: President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the DPP.
While she is not the first DPP member to lead the nation, the party never had a legislative majority during former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) time in office.
Believers in the KMT party-state myth and members who still do not consider Taiwan their home must feel lost.
Since pro-localization groups led by Lee first took control of the KMT, it has splintered twice.
While the People First Party (PFP) flourished after Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), following Chiang’s approach, attracted local politicians to join him, the success was short-lived as the party became politically marginalized.
Only time will tell whether Wu can carve out a new path for the KMT.
Wu is different from Lee and his followers. He is also not like KMT Central Advisory Committee chairman Chiu Chuang-huan (邱創煥). If anything, he is more like former presidential adviser Lin Yang-kang (林洋港) and former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) — both Taiwanese who contested elections.
As a party member, Wu has always been extremely loyal and relentless in carrying out the party agenda. However, he remains unable to shake off his reputation as a liar. Although many have high hopes of Wu reinvigorating the party, the internal and external challenges that await him are anything but easy.
If the KMT does not cast off its pro-China ideology and name, it will never gain recognition from Taiwanese who have awakened to their true identity.
If the ROC continues to cling to its outdated, foreign myths about China, it will never become a regular nation. This is placing Taiwan in a difficult political situation. Politicians need to look beyond their own power games and help the nation overcome its problems.
The rise of politicians who identify with Taiwan makes one wonder why it was necessary to drive Lee out of the KMT.
A major reason behind the DPP’s sweeping victory in last year’s elections was its Taiwan-centric position. This is not to say that the public is leaning toward nationalism, but a truly mature political environment will perhaps have to wait until a true Taiwanese party grows strong and a left and a right-wing dynamic develops.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Tu Yu-an
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