KMT and ‘silent majority’
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has delivered an interesting interpretation of the term “silent majority.” When former US president Richard Nixon used the term “the great silent majority,” he was hoping the US middle class would support his faltering Vietnam War policy. Still, he was at least referring to the silence of people still living.
In the 19th century, Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle used the term, but had a different meaning, as the “silent majority” actually referred to dead people: the voiceless, indefensible people who have made up the majority of human history. They exist only on tombstones and in history as a silent but palpable presence.
When the KMT allegedly forges dead people’s signatures for recall petitions targeting elected officials of the Democratic Progressive Party, it has achieved something truly outstanding, quite literally awakening the “silent majority.” While other parties are trying to win the support of young people, the KMT is crossing the line between life and death to collect signatures from beyond the grave.
The living are hard to control, while the dead are fully compliant.
Rather than keeping in touch with public opinion, the KMT has sought support from those incapable of retracting their endorsement.
Politically, this is a genius move. It coheres with the KMT’s tradition of allowing a debate to be domineered by a nonexistent authority. It has proved that it understands the true meaning of the “silent majority” by putting the theory into practice.
When the dead can sign recall petitions and vote, how much weight do the living have in the recall campaigns?
Perhaps the KMT itself has long become part of the silent departed, but has neglected to inform the bereaved.
Lee Chih-yang
Taipei
On Monday, the day before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed on her visit to China, the party released a promotional video titled “Only with peace can we ‘lie flat’” to highlight its desire to have peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, its use of the expression “lie flat” (tang ping, 躺平) drew sarcastic comments, with critics saying it sounded as if the party was “bowing down” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Amid the controversy over the opposition parties blocking proposed defense budgets, Cheng departed for China after receiving an invitation from the CCP, with a meeting with
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is leading a delegation to China through Sunday. She is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing tomorrow. That date coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which marked a cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations. Staging their meeting on this date makes it clear that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intends to challenge the US and demonstrate its “authority” over Taiwan. Since the US severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, it has relied on the TRA as a legal basis for all
A delegation of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials led by Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is to travel to China tomorrow for a six-day visit to Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing, which might end with a meeting between Cheng and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). The trip was announced by Xinhua news agency on Monday last week, which cited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) as saying that Cheng has repeatedly expressed willingness to visit China, and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and Xi have extended an invitation. Although some people have been speculating about a potential Xi-Cheng
The ongoing Iran conflict is putting Taiwan’s energy fragility on full display — the island of 23 million people, home to the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing, is highly dependent on imported oil and gas, especially that from the Middle East. In 2025, 69.6 percent of Taiwan’s crude oil and 38.7 percent of liquified natural gas were sourced from the Middle East. In the same year, 62 percent of crude oil and 34 percent of LNG to Taiwan went through the Strait of Hormuz. Taiwan’s state-run oil company CPC Corp’s benchmark crude oil price (70 percent Dubai, 30 percent Brent)
RSS