The “blue-white alliance” is actually a “blue-white-red” alliance, as Beijing stands to benefit the most if the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) oust the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in January’s presidential election.
If all goes to plan, and with both parties ready to embrace the “one China” principle, Beijing could annex Taiwan “peacefully.”
Taiwanese who fail to see through the hidden agenda of the “blue-white-red” alliance should heed the lesson brought by former US diplomat George Kennan and Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), who discussed at length by telephone the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) tactics of infiltration and subversion to gain power, and undermine the morale and national security of Western countries.
TPP Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) regards Mao Zedong (毛澤東) as an idol and has stolen a leaf out of his book by proposing the idea of “coalition government.” His rebukes and attacks of the KMT are reminiscent of communist power struggles.
Fearing that Ko would commandeer the support of the pro-Taiwan benshengren (本省人) — people who moved to Taiwan from China before World War II and their offspring — the KMT proposed a collaboration plan.
With the CCP fearing that the independent candidacy of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) would draw support from waishengren (外省人) — those who moved to Taiwan from China with the KMT after the Chinese Civil War and their offspring — it has sent tax authorities to search Hon Hai offices in China, hoping to force him out of the game.
After the Chinese Civil War, the KMT and the CCP negotiated, with the CCP’s biggest goal being to form a “coalition government,” a proposal that might sound reasonable and tempting.
However, a coalition government would be formed after an election, not prior to it, but Ko is already “bidding out” official positions.
Ko has been criticized for reportedly considering Xu Chunying (徐春鶯), a Chinese immigrant, as a legislative candidate, because she was allegedly once part of a CCP cadre.
Ko hit back, saying that “we are one, why differentiate between us and them?” and accused the DPP of being “physically” closer to China, an apparent reference to an affair that DPP Legislator Chao Tian-lin (趙天麟) had with a Chinese woman.
This evasive tactic, along with specious comparisons and the plan to give a sketchy character a place in the legislature, is a worse form of infiltration than what Chiang faced.
The wartime KMT was infiltrated and disintegrated by the CCP. Tapping into the abhorrence of Chinese for conflict by threatening a protracted war, along with the US government’s desire to restore peace, Chiang was forced to retreat to Taiwan.
Interestingly, the KMT has fallen into the same CCP trap again. With China ramping up threats of military force, the KMT and TPP are echoing Beijing’s stance by promising to bring “peace” and “stability.”
The two parties are also pushing anti-US narratives, just as Mao did by sowing dissent between Chiang and the US, even blatantly trying to undermine Taiwan’s ability to defend itself.
The “blue-white alliance” is the KMT and TPP joining forces with the CCP. Beijing hopes to use the collaboration to gain legitimate power and have the two parties as its puppets to bring about unification.
As former British prime minister Winston Churchill said about the former Soviet Union, the CCP does not desire war, but it desires “the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines.”
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Rita Wang
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