A Gov’t that Relies on “Divide and Rule” Cannot Be Rewarded with a United Nation

  A Gov’t that Relies on “Divide and Rule” Cannot Be Rewarded with a United Nation

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

August 22, 2017

 Translation of an Excerpt

Disruptions by anti-pension reform groups hampered the opening ceremony of the Taipei World Universiade; the public felt it was deeply regrettable. At the same time, the people saw a series of officials being “shocked and furious": President Tsai was shocked and furious, ordering stringent punishment; Premier Lin Chuan was shocked and furious, demanding an investigation into dereliction of duties and accountability after the closing ceremony; Yeh Jiunn-rong, Interior Minister, left a stern statement, saying that in the case of any further negligence or omission in maintaining law and order, the police precinct chief would immediately be dismissed; Taipei Mayor Ke Wen-je, on the other hand, spit out expletives, cursing the troublemakers as "SOBs," adding that "the country cannot continue to be so weak." With so many officials expressing shock and fury, it plainly shows that the police force has gradually lost control of demonstrations; it also shows a Taiwan whose social fabric has been torn asunder and lost the possibility of “solidarity.”

This group of people against pension reform mostly came from the ranks of retired civil servants, public school teachers, police and firemen. How come they surprisingly did not care about the nation’s glory and face, choosing to disrupt the event when Taiwan was hosting an international athletic meet? Viewed from the level of social psychology, the brutal pension reform relegated this group of people to the status of "vested interests," and then forcibly exploited them, producing in them a serious sense of relative deprivation, so much so that they felt the need to vent their fury through demonstrations like a stalking shadow. Viewed from another level, since the Tsai government came to office, in the face of various strikes, protests, and even student movements, it has time and again provided encouragement and rewards, to the point of trampling on the rule of law. This is also the major reason that anti-pension reform groups have increasingly disregarded the consequences of their demonstrations.

Going to the bottom of the things behind the endless protests and demonstrations in the streets of Taiwan, isn’t the main reason precisely the chaotic standards of the Tsai government? All those who protest against the "preceding administration" have been deemed "meritorious," and can be exonerated and even rewarded extra-legally; all those who protest against this administration shall be stringently penalized, definitely with no leniency. The Tsai government has adopted an attitude of “divide and rule" towards Blue and Green supporters, so the Tsai government should bear the greatest responsibility for causing the ever expanding rupture of society, the gradual difficulty in galvanizing national identity, and making Taiwan’s sense of pride difficult to be shared.

We must remind President Tsai that a government that relies on "divide and rule" cannot be rewarded with a country of “solidarity.” The incident during the opening ceremony of the Taipei Universiade was but an overture.

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