Ko: the Mao admirer
Putting aside Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) political leaning — be it dark-green, light-blue, or even light-red — one thing is certain: He has been ambivalent about what “Taiwanese values” mean.
During his trip to Europe earlier this year, Ko spoke of Taipei’s values and Chinese society, yet he hardly talked about Taiwan or the Republic of China (ROC). It makes people wonder whether Ko really cares about Taiwan or whether he was just intentionally being misleading.
For Ko, his speech only yields benefits without having to take a risk.
Over the decades, Taiwan has been allowed to participate in international events only in the name of “Chinese Taipei,” as is evident from sport events, such as the Asian Games and the Olympics, or international organizations, such as the WHO and APEC.
Saying “Chinese Taipei” all the time is — it seems — legitimate and justified, so there is nothing wrong with Ko when he kept talking about Taipei rather than Taiwan during the trip.
The fact that he downgraded the nation’s sovereignty by not talking about or referring to the ROC or Taiwan as a sovereign state would appeal more to China, gain him popularity among Taiwanese pro-China and pan-blue media outlets, and eventually accumulate more political capital for himself.
Ko once admitted that he admires Mao Zedong (毛澤東) to the extent that he would worship Mao. Later on, Ko was reported to be accompanied by Xin Qi (辛旗), a high-ranking deputy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), during his trip to China as he paid homage to Mao by visiting Yanan, where Mao and his army thrived and prospered.
Nowadays, Mao is no longer widely worshiped, except by CCP members, as most of the Chinese public became aware of how much damage he had brought upon modern China. Why would Ko, who grew up in a free and democratic nation, go to the extreme and admire Mao so much?
The public needs to scrutinize Ko’s thinking and learn a lesson from his hidden yet complicated political ideology.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) needs to be warned for the upcoming elections.
For a rival, Ko is respectable enough, but he will never be an ally to be collaborated with.
Second, the DPP should speed up the certification of its own candidate and proactively prepare for the campaign.
Third, the DPP must not wallow in a defeatist mentality.
Even if the DPP gives up on the Taipei mayoral election and supports Ko for re-election, it should never expect Ko to be grateful for the support. Giving up on the election will only make Ko despise the DPP more, just as the CCP never stops looking at the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) with contempt.
Finally, the DPP and Ko will sooner or later lay their cards on the table and eventually compete with each other, and this year’s election will be the opportune moment for them to do so, unless the DPP wants to give up on the 2020 presidential election in support of Ko for the third time.
Yeh Sheng-lin
Keelung
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