DPP Presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen once again reiterated her support for the status quo and for the determination of cross-strait policy by the people....
Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the chairwoman and presidential candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said Sunday that the orientation of Taiwan's next administration should be decided by the people.Maddog pointed out on Twitter that Ma's remarks tacitly concede that the next president won't be KMT.
Referring to President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) statement on cross-Taiwan Strait relations in his National Day message, Tsai said there was a huge difference between the views of the people and that of the president, who said that "without the '1992 consensus,' 'maintaining the status quo' is just a slogan" that can never become reality.
As I've noted many times before, the 1992 Consensus is not the basis of KMT-CCP cooperation, but just a cage to imprison DPP cross-strait policy, something which the international media simply refuses to report. The basis for KMT-CCP cooperation is China's desire to annex Taiwan...
Meanwhile, the saga of failed and soon to be replaced KMT Presidential Candidate Hung Hsiu-chu continues. Various reports say various things -- Hung will leave her fate up to the upcoming party Congress.
Chu has talked to Hung frankly recently about the uphill battle faced by the party as well as the party's candidates in the legislative race, also to be held on the same day as the presidential election on Jan. 16, 2016.This weekend the KMT Secretary-General Lee Si-chuan apologized to Hung for the party's treatment of her. The public has been strongly disapproving of the KMT's handling of Hung and this will cost the KMT in the election.
The legislative candidates fear that they are more likely to lose the legislative elections with Hung as the standard bearer.
Despite mounting calls to replace Hung or for her to step down voluntarily, Hung herself has said repeatedly that she planned to stay in the race.
Hung posted on her Facebook page Friday evening that she feels blue as she sees the nation shrouded in blue over the past few years, but she will more firmly defend the values and ideals that the KMT should stand for.
Hung's strident pro-China stance was hurting the party -- the public sees Taiwan as an independent, sovereign country, according to the government-run news site -- and the KMT wants a candidate who will mouth the 1992 Consensus and pretend that the status quo isn't independence, like Ma does.
Some in the Hung camp -- the Deep Blue bitter-enders -- are calling for a secret vote at the Party Congress rather than the usual show of hands/acclamation. Eric Chu and President Ma both have called for party unity and consensus on the issue. These are codewords for the party base to obey the orders of the party elites.
Hung herself has constantly shifted positions -- last week on Wednesday she said she would not go quietly, then Friday she was saying she would go quietly for the good of the party, but then over the weekend she told a group of supporters that she would not back down. How do those supporters see Hung?
A crowd later yesterday gathered at the Martyrs’ Shrine, where Hung’s office had invited her supporters to “recapture the spirit of the KMT on which it was established” with Hung.Chu is a traitor not to the KMT, Taiwan, or the ROC. Chu is a traitor to the Han people. Nothing better shows how at heart, the KMT is a colonial system whose legitimacy resides in ethnic chauvinism.
Some supporters were heard shouting “Eric Chu is a hanjian [漢奸, a traitor to the Han people].”
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Daily Links
- WAY COOL: Taiwanese city maps WWII and now, overlaid
- ROFL: Unleash your mystical warrior Chang
- Ketagalan Media: Who will stand against the DPP?
- Lack of leadership is responsible for KMT problems. Some in the media finally noticing.
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Astonished by the hubris of Chu who thinks he would stand a better chance than Hung. At least Hung had the conviction of her beliefs.
ReplyDeleteMr. Turton,do you think when the KMT goes into defeat early next year, that will be the absolute, final death knell for them as a party in Taiwanese politics?
ReplyDeleteChu may not think he has a better shot at the presidency, but that he can staunch the outflow and/or election-day slaughter of KMT Bentu legislators. There are plenty I think that rather die than appear in public with our little chili pepper but would be okay with Chu. Now the hope is that they keep enough legislators to be able to filibuster and blockade their way through the coming Tsai administration. All KMT has to do in order to 'win' is to 'prove' that democracy 'doesn't work' or that DPP is incompetent. That can be easily done by making sure Tsai Ing-wen can do nothing as president and that DPP cannot achieve their policy goals. They aren't going to be able to do that if they only have 20 legislators.
ReplyDeleteMuch better to switch to Chu and slam him down with a decisive blow. Otherwise KMT will continue to have this fantasy that the loss was all due to Hung
ReplyDeleteAs for unleashing the Chiang/Chang... WOW!!! Only the Bushes.... More like unleash the Bush, wait, that sounds way too dirty for a family rated blog, my apologies.
ReplyDeleteMr. Turton,do you think when the KMT goes into defeat early next year, that will be the absolute, final death knell for them as a party in Taiwanese politics?
ReplyDeleteNo, it won't. We have many years of them to come.
They aren't going to be able to do that if they only have 20 legislators.
ReplyDeleteRemember there's no actual filibuster in the legislative, just the opportunity for legislators to disrupt votes. If the KMT don't have a majority, which even with Chu I think is more likely than not, they can't block Tsai's agenda permanently.
I remember back in the late 1990s the KMT was viewed as an insuperable entity in Taiwan politics. People voted for the KMT as it could be assumed they would always be in control of both the presidency and the legislature. People voted for the presumed winner. We have moved to a point where they no longer have a stranglehold on all political capital, but have never lost control of the legislature. It may take another twenty years before the party's ideology completely fails to hold any political currency in Taiwan. The KMT identity is both a social and, possibly even, ethnic identity in which the party and ROC state is central. People need to feel comfortable shedding that identity in exchange for one that better fits the present. It is happening, but slowly.
ReplyDelete"Underlying the farcical development is a strong sense of desperation to keep the Titanic from sinking." (Found in "http://news.asiaone.com/news/asian-opinions/taiwans-kmt-predicament-lies-lack-leadership")
ReplyDeleteFor sure, some in the media have been impressed by your "KMTitanic" series.
As I have already commented, this has all the looks of a scuttling incident masterminded since a few years back by Mark Ma himself. He appears to be bent on having the 1949 Chinese personnel exfiltrated from local politics. But local politicians have proven too far gone into their ROC/Taiwan fantasy to catch his hints and run.
That was my two cents with input from a local commenter. But it might have just been sarcasm that I missed. Nevertheless it impressed me so that I keep seeing the goings-on through that lens. Has anyone caught with such rumor?
Hey, thanks for linking to the "Taiwanese city maps WWII and now", happy to answer any questions, and since then I've did a 'making of' writeup as well of interested in the background. Cheers :)
ReplyDelete