KMT notes + Links

Wrapping betel nuts...

The KMT still knows how to play the old faction game, as the DPP lost in the most recent round of farmer's association elections...

All cities and counties have a pan-blue leadership, except Taipei and Taitung County, where there is no clear political affiliation, and Chiayi County, where the DPP is in control, according to reports.

The DPP’s effort to extend its influence failed completely in Yunlin County, the nation’s most significant agricultural county.

The DPP aimed to seek more than half of the seats in five of the county’s 20 farmers’ associations in a bid to lessen the control of the Chang family, but the DPP failed to obtain a majority in any of the associations, whereas all the candidates endorsed by the Chang family won.

The farmers associations are significant sources of political power, votes, and patronage fundings.

Meanwhile, the infighting in the KMT continued.

Have the powers that be in the KMT decided to put up Pan Wei-kang as a candidate in the Chairmanship election? Sharp observer Aaron Wytze noted that she is popular with the Old Soldiers and KMT women's groups, meaning that she is a threat to siphon off votes from current Chairman Hung Hsiu-chu's base. Pan was supposed to announce her candidacy today but I haven't seen any news on it.

Meanwhile Hau Long-bin, another KMT Chair candidate and former Taipei mayor, suggested running former premier Jiang Yi-hua (Apple in Chinese). I hope so. Jiang and Hau appear to be favorites of Ma, which will not make them appeal to the population at large, especially the under 40 group.

Just for kicks, former Ma Ying-jeou presidential adviser and former head of the Personnel Administration Bureau and current head of the KMT’s Evaluation and Discipline Committee Chen Keng-chin (陳庚金), called on public servants to “goof around as much as possible and milk their jobs for all they are worth” to “drag down the government.” Absolutely despicable.

Comic relief: Wu Den-yih, also premier under Ma Ying-jeou and another chairmanship candidate, said that the KMT was unable to cultivate talent because of Ma's integrity.

Wu said former President and ex-party leader Ma Ying-jeou's integrity and fears he would accused of favoritism saw him unwilling to promote close aides and associates to higher positions.

As Michal Thim pointed out in an analysis of this problem, Ma had the habit of appointing mainlander academics to positions in his cabinet, instead of appointing politicians out of the party. This meant that when they were done serving, they returned to academia. Thus, the KMT did not benefit from their experience, and few KMT politicians received practice in administrating large government bodies. The DPP truly is better at cultivating politicians.
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Daily Links:

• Jenna goes to Vietnam, takes lovely pictures, muses on Taiwan tourism.
• Launched: Taiwan Democracy Bulletin No. 1
• Lots of good stuff in the latest GTI brief, including a good piece on how Taiwan's energy firms can hook into Tsai's Southbound policy.
• Klaus Bardenhagen on Taiwan's reduced dependence on China tourists. How long before major media report on this? Not holding my breath...
• Commonwealth with a great series on the labor law changes. Here's one.
• Spain ships 200 Taiwanese scammers off to China. Good from the law enforcement point of view. Bad from the diplomatic point of view: Spain referred to them as "Chinese citizens".
• Why China Should feel good about Taiwan
• Tsai's approval rating rising
• Taiwan's IC production value rises in 2016
• Optimistic, not realistic: time for a reset on Taiwan/China ties
• Manila rep on Taiwan's hard working people
• RAND releases new report on Taiwan's defense
• Shimen Dam water levels continue to fall
• BIKE ROUTE MAP: from local cyclist.
• Surfing the net, I found this comment from a 2014 article on undocumented migrant mothers in Taiwan: 

  He also observes that Taiwan’s harsh immigration law has in the island’s central mountain range created “a whole village inhabited by undocumented foreign mothers and their Taiwanese children.”

• Please flush: Taiwans changing bathroom etiquette because toilet paper is improved
• History: Old Chiayi Tobacco Factory to get makeover
• JOB: Winker Partners writes: There's still time to apply for our summer international intern program. Apply before 1 March. http://bit.ly/2iHD31X #lawintern #lawjobs

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[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

Taiwan News #8: So much KMT.... =UPDATE WITH MORE AWESOMENESS=

Ants tending aphids. They've curved several leaves around, and parked the aphids inside.

My latest piece in Taiwan News is on the KMT Chairmanship election and its latest developments.

The KMT Chairmanship election heated up with both former Taipei Mayor Hau Long-bin and former Vice President Wu Den-yih challenging current KMT Chair Hung Hsiu-chu for her seat in the May 20 election. This trio was immediately parodied by Taiwan netizens as Hau-Wu-Chu (好無助), a homonym for "hopeless." Wu, a practiced politician, delivered an Oscar-worthy press conference, a Noh play of traditional references to Sun Yat-sen, calls for "power under unity" for the KMT, and a mask of tears for the memory of President Chiang Ching-kuo, who has the same kind of sainthood for the KMT that Ronald Reagan does for the US Republican party. Clearly the ability to summon tears at will is a must for would-be politicians in Taiwan.

Should be "so hopeless" not "hopeless".

None of these politicians has much of a following outside the KMT. Indeed, this week Hau observed that Wu is one of the least popular politicians among the population at large, and said that if elected Chairman, he would make Terry Gou (Wiki), the head of Foxconn, the 2020 KMT presidential candidate. Gou is a (1) big businessman whose (2) primary business is in China, and (3) who will be 70 in 2020. I am sure that 1, 2, and 3 will make him very attractive to younger and working/middle class Taiwanese, and to younger members of the KMT.

But from the KMT point of view Gou would have one priceless quality: he could afford to pay for his own election campaign. The KMT might not be able to...

Steve Chan, who resigned his KMT Vice Chairman position last week, announced his candidacy. Some of you might recall that Hung Hsiu-chu was in SE Asia a while back trawling local Chinese communities for support -- this week she is in the US doing the same.

At least we did get an entertaining alternative candidate for the KMT Chair in the person of Han Kuo-yu... UPDATE: but for sheer awesomeness this song for Wu Den-yih announcing his candidacy cannot be beat.

In the DPP other individuals are declaring their interest in candidacies. Kuan Bi-ling, the DPP politico, said she'd be interested in running for K-town mayor. The tussle over New Taipei City, currently the nation's largest, looks to be quite interesting, especially if current Tainan mayor William Lai shows an interest in running, which he should do if he wants to become President. He would likely beat all comers. But for 2020 and beyond, many of us are thinking current Taoyuan mayor (can you even think of his name?) ____ will be a powerful dark horse presidential candidate. He's popular and appears to be doing a good job in Taoyuan. Current Taichung mayor Lin Jia-long is also said to harbor presidential ambitions.

The DPP's discussion of who gets what merely emphasizes how its geographic advantages are so powerful -- the DPP has a lock on the south and can develop new candidates with wide population bases, whereas of the KMT-held areas Miaoli, Nantou, Hualien, and Taitung lack the money and population to vault a politician to national prominence, except for corruption allegations. Whoever wins the DPP nomination in K-town and the election will automatically come into consideration as a possible presidential candidate, and certainly for higher national posts such as Premier.

Also apropro: Timothy Rich: Can the KMT rebuild itself?
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[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!