Future DPP Madmen Debate, Hack on Ma

A popular figure in international commentary on Taiwan is Mad Chen, the Crazed pro-independence Taiwan president who wants to tear up the Constitution, rename the island, and trigger a massive war in Asia. Chen is a pragmatic and clever politician, and his "wild" talk is aimed largely at domestic audiences. Nevertheless, one often hears -- usually from commentators who don't know what's going on -- that 2008 will usher in a more "moderate" DPP candidate. Yet, as the debate hosted by the Taiwan Society between the DPP candidates yesterday showed, the position of constitutional change is the "moderate" position, and their talking points did not differ significantly from those of Chen Shui-bian:

Chairman Shyi-kun:
"Taiwan and China are two different countries on either side of the Taiwan Strait," Yu said. "If I am elected president, I will not be bound to the `four noes and one without' pledge."

Former Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh:
Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) emphasized the importance of reinforcing Taiwanese consciousness because he said it helps to push the name change campaign and constitutional reform. Hsieh, who has been harshly criticized for his theory of "a constitutional one China" (憲法一中), said that the essence of his theory was to get rid of "one China" in the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution and he realized it would be a time-consuming task.

Until the ROC Constitution is amended, Hsieh said the DPP administration must acknowledge the ROC Constitution, which is seriously flawed.

Premier Su:
Saying Taiwan was an independent sovereignty and its constitutional name is the Republic of China, Su underlined the importance of Taiwan consciousness and supported the writing of a constitution that is suitable, viable and relevant to the needs of Taiwan's people.

Su is closest to the line that Chen adopted in the first few years of his administration: Hey, we're already independent. But all of them recognize the urgency of Constitutional reform. Believe it or not, in a nation where the constitution doesn't work very well, constitutional reform is a mainstream political position.

With corruption widespread in both parties, especially at the local level, and neither party willing to erect coherent, understandable, and forward-looking public policy to capture the public's imagination -- and with the tiny pool of genuine swing voters to appeal to -- look forward to increasingly sharp appeals to identity politics for the coming election. The DPP's "radical" and "provocative" name rectification campaign is already bearing fruit on that front -- not only is the KMT holding a parade on March 31 to oppose the name rectification, but they want all three bigwigs -- Ma, Lien, and Wang -- to appear (thanks, a-gu). Additionally the party is holding a commemoration for Chiang Kai-shek's death on April 5. The more the DPP hits on those names that are central to the KMT's core, the more the KMT responds by tying itself ever more tightly to the widely despised figure of Chiang Kai-shek.

The four candidates also hacked on KMT hopeful Ma Ying-jeou. Hsieh had the sharpest comment:

Hsieh criticized Ma's "new four wants," saying that he sounded as if he was running for city mayor or governor of a special administrative region.

This same point was made by Taiwan News in an editorial the other day.

[Taiwan] [2008 Presidential Election] [Su Tseng-chang] [Frank Hsieh] [Yu Shyi-kun] [DPP] [Ma Ying-jeou]