United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)

A Translation 

July 16, 2013 

 

 

The timing of Hsueh Ling's Green template was just right. This Green fast track is a variation on the Zhongnan fast track. In fact, an endless stream of Green politicians have been making such trips. But all three members of the Hsueh Ling family are high-ranking party officials. As a result, the DPP has effectively given this fast track its official seal of approval. Let us see how the DPP will justify its actions.

 

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We once had a "Zhongnan fast track." We now have a "Green fast track."

 

Tang Dynasty scholar Lu Chang-yun yearned to climb the career ladder. So he retreated into the Zhongnan Mountains and posed as a hermit. As a result, he was perceived as a great sage who had transcended worldly concerns. The imperial court invited him courteously to descend from the mountains, and serve as a government official. Later generations expressed contempt for his ploy, calling it the "Zhongnan fast track." 

 

DPP legislator Hsueh Ling's husband is Chen Shen-hung, Chairman of the DPP Central Advisory Committee. Her son is DPP Taipei City Councilman Ho Chih-wei. Together, the three head up the Sunnybank Financing and Leasing (China) Company, which opened in Shanghai yesterday. Their application to open a financing company on the Mainland was submitted in February of this year. Five short months later, it was approved. The company is already open for business. Some say Hsueh Ling's Green pedigree opened up a "Green channel." What is this "Green channel," other than a modern-day "Green fast track?"

 

The day the Sunnybank Company opened, all three members of Hsueh Ling's family visited Shanghai. They did not, however, attend the opening ceremony. Later, in response to media requests, Hsueh showed up herself. Out of nowhere Hsueh Ling blurted out "Former DPP Chairmen Yao Chia-wen, Hsu Hsing-liang, and Frank Hsieh have all visited [Mainland] China." "We (three) are merely guests invited to attend the opening ceremony. We are all happy to see it come to fruition." She conveyed a "Nothing to see here, move along" tone. But is the opening of a Sunnybank Company in Mainland China really no different from Yao Chia-wen, Hsu Hsing-liang, and Frank Hsieh’s "visiting [Mainland[ China"?

 

DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-chan's response was even less comprehensible. He said "Economics is economics, politics is politics." He said the company is not under the control of the DPP. It is under the control of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation and the Financial Supervisory Commission. He trotted out the old saw, "Do not read so much politics into it." He even added, "A political party cannot control whom its party members marry." But can Hsueh Ling open up a Sunnybank Company in Shanghai, China, really be likened to a marriage between two individuals?

 

Hsueh Ling has become a Green template for cross-Strait exchanges. The Sunnybank Company on Mainland China is forecasting a profit during its very first year. Beijing is eager to prove to the DPP that ECFA will not "forfeit sovereignty and humiliate the nation." It is not about to disappoint the Sunnybank branch in Shanghai, which was established under the auspices of ECFA. With this cross-Strait business move, Hsueh Ling has become a walking advertisement for the Green fast track.

 

The DPP's "China Affairs Committee" is sounding the alarms. It is warning against "blindly seeking concessions from [Mainland] China." It is simultaneously complaining that "[Mainland] China has not made enough concessions on STA," and threatening boycotts. It is also rushing to Green template Hsueh Ling's defense, arguing that "Politics is politics, economics is economics." Can anyone make heads or tails out of the DPP's game?

 

Hsueh Ling and her family have become a Green template. The DPP must be held politically accountable. The DPP condemned ECFA, saying it "forfeited sovereignty and humiliated the nation." The DPP is currently using the same terms to characterize STA. Therefore, how can it airily dismiss the Sunnybank Company opening as "Politics is politics, economics is economics?" The fact is, the DPP has never been a political party that believes "Politics is politics, and economics is economics." It has never been content to allow cross-Strait relations to be a case of "Politics is politics, and economics is economics." Its buffoonery cannot cover up what is clear for all to see. The DPP knows it must offer a compelling political justification for Green template Hsueh Ling's actions. Otherwise, how can they stop people from criticizing Hsueh Ling’s behavior?

 

The CCP accorded the Sunnybank Company opening VIP treatment. Needless to say, it has high expectations of this Green template. But according to news reports, CCP officials said they were "not happy to see some people support in independence on Taiwan, even as they made money on the Mainland." This was for Hsueh Ling's ears. Needless to say, it was also for the DPP's ears. It amounted to a direct rebuttal of the DPP's "Politics is politics, economics is economics" argument. The DPP can of course back Hsueh Ling as a Green template. But if it does, it must also bear political responsibility for this Green template's actions. This is something Beijing wants to know. This is something DPP supporters want know. This is something everyone on Taiwan has the right to know.

 

Hsueh Ling's Green template has been the target of online criticism. Critics denounce Hsueh Ling and the DPP for "denouncing cross-Strait exchanges while profiting from them." Hsueh Ling's Cinderella story has confirmed a hypothesis circulated on the Internet for years. The hypothesis claims that "The more vocally one champions Taiwan independence, the more eager Beijing will be to make concessions." Hsueh Ling's Green foot fit easily into Beijing's glass slipper. What was this, but proof of this hypothesis? 

 

Hsueh Ling has become a Green template. She has deftly taken the Green fast track. The DPP must confront this matter in all seriousness. It must not kid itself. It must offer a non-contradictory rationale for cross-Strait economic and political relations. It cannot say one thing to Hsueh Ling, and something entirely different to others. Hsueh Ling traveled to the Mainland to attend the Sunnybank Company opening. The political impact was no less than that of Frank Hsieh's "exploratory visit" last October. If the DPP backs Hsueh Ling's trip to Shanghai to attend the Sunnybank Company opening, how can it refuse to back Frank Hsieh's "Constitutional one China?"

 

The timing of Hsueh Ling's Green template was just right. This Green fast track is a variation on the Zhongnan fast track. In fact, an endless stream of Green politicians have been making such trips. But all three members of the Hsueh Ling family are high-ranking party officials. As a result, the DPP has effectively given this fast track its official seal of approval. Let us see how the DPP will justify its actions. 

 

(Courtesy of United Daily News)